Imran Tahir, the world’s No.1 bowler in ODIs and T20Is, has been roped in to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh by the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) for the upcoming edition of the IPL. Tahir had been unsold in the auctions that took place last month.
The 37-year old South African, who has taken 54 wickets from 31 T20Is, was part of the Delhi Daredevils side until last season. In 2015, Tahir was the highest wicket-taker for Delhi, joint with Nathan Coulter-Nile. He has picked a total of 29 wickets in 20 IPL games. His bowling average stands at 21.48, with one four-wicket haul in his kitty.
Also read: RPS IPL 2017 Schedule: Download PDF of Rising Pune Supergiant's fixtures
Mitchell Marsh, who was part of the Australian Test squad against India until the second Test at Bengaluru, injured his shoulder and had to leave the series midway. He was ruled out of the IPL subsequently, with the injury ruling him out for most of the summer. The all-rounder had to leave last year’s IPL midway as well, after sustaining a side strain.
Even though Tahir could find no takers in the auction, he was part of the registered available player pool list (RAPPL), deeming him available to be a replacement if a player who is part of the original squad got injured.
Tahir’s omission had come as a big surprise, especially because the leg-spinner leads the ICC bowling charts in both ODIs and T20Is. Several cricketers had expressed their surprise at Tahir’s snub, with Aakash Chopra claiming the development to the “shocker of the day”.
A late bloomer at the international circuit, the 37-year old made his debut for South Africa in February 2011, featuring in the ODI team against West Indies. He made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka in August two years later.
In the Rising Pune outfit, he might have to fight for a place with Australia’s Adam Zampa, another leg spinner, who impressed one and all with his performances for the Pune franchise last season. Apart from the two, Pune also has the services of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ankit Sharma, Saurabh Kumar and Deepak Chahar.
Rising Pune begin their IPL campaign with their opening game against Mumbai Indians, an evening fixture scheduled to be held at the MCA Stadium in Pune on April 6.
Extra cover: List of unsold players in IPL Auction 2017
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