Behind that fireball flaming forward and sending him charging across cricket fields like one possessed, however, lurks the delicate art of Imran Tahir – a wrist-spinning alchemist whose obsession belies his birth certificate. A true journeyman Born on 27th March 1979 in Lahore, Tahir’s story is an international fairytale of doggedness that has seen him spread his magic with a huge tally of 26 different franchises across the globe- making him one of the most desired and well-travelled cricketers ever. His career was a tale of late blossoming, debuting in One-Day Cricket for South Africa at the age of 32 and immediately emerging as their attacking spearhead; he now stands with an incredible 173 wickets in his name from just 107 games. The numbers alone are a tale of unrelenting pressure: over 500 wickets in internationals and T20s, founded on a bedrock of a remarkable googly and an insatiable appetite for wickets which never seemed to diminish until his final delivery in professional cricket. Imran Tahir was not just a bowler; he was an event, a tempest of passion and raw emotion that showed the heart of a champion does not have to be old.
| Personal Information | Details |
| Name | Imran Tahir |
| Age | March 27, 1979 (46 years) |
| Birth Place | Lahore, Punjab |
| Height | — |
| Role | Bowler |
| Batting Style | Right Handed Bat |
| Bowling Style | Right-arm legbreak |
| Country | South Africa |
Imran Tahir’s Bowling Career Stats
Imran Tahir’s career bowling stats are a colourful tapestry of wicket-taking zeal in the bright hues of his, now universal, celebratory dashes. His 173 ODI wickets for South Africa came at a remarkable strike-rate of 31.4, a clip that puts him in the company of the most aggressive bowlers we have seen in modern cricket. It was outside the international game, though, where his power truly lay in T20 cricket as a gun for hire – he has now taken more than 500 wickets on a franchise treadmill global tour. Whether for the Protea or in the yellow of Chennai Super Kings, his leg-breaks and a deadly googly continued to puzzle batsmen as he finished with a staggering 59 T20 wickets beyond the age of 40. Tahir’s stats are more than a record; they’re the kinetic energy of an eternal motion machine, thrumming along endlessly as if fed by an insatiable need for wickets.
Test Format Stats
| Details | Test |
| Match | 20 |
| Innings | 37 |
| Balls | 3925 |
| Runs | 2294 |
| Wickets | 57 |
| Average | 40.25 |
| Economy | 3.51 |
| Strike Rate | 68.86 |
| Best Bowling Inning | 5/32 |
| Best Bowling Match | 8/130 |
| 5w | 2 |
| 10w | 0 |
ODIs Format Stats
| Details | ODIs |
| Match | 107 |
| Innings | 104 |
| Balls | 5541 |
| Runs | 4297 |
| Wickets | 173 |
| Average | 24.84 |
| Economy | 4.65 |
| Strike Rate | 32.03 |
| Best Bowling Inning | 7/45 |
| Best Bowling Match | 7/45 |
| 5w | 3 |
| 10w | 0 |
T20I Format Stats
In the big 50-over stage, Imran Tahir was a wicket-chasing predator. In 107 ODIs for South Africa, he took 173 wickets at an incredible average of 24.83 and economy rate of just 4.68. His deadly combination of leg-breaks and a wrong ‘un created 12 four-wicket hauls, establishing himself as the Proteas’ chief attacking weapon and an ever-presence threat during the middle overs.
| Details | T20I |
| Match | 38 |
| Innings | 38 |
| Balls | 845 |
| Runs | 948 |
| Wickets | 63 |
| Average | 15.05 |
| Economy | 6.73 |
| Strike Rate | 13.41 |
| Best Bowling Inning | 5/23 |
| Best Bowling Match | 5/23 |
| 5w | 2 |
| 10w | 0 |
IPL Format Stats
The IPL is a high-octane crucible, where cricket meets chaos in a 20-over cute-athon. Its style is a relentless marathon across 74 games, as ten franchised city-states slug it out in a double round-robin. The top four will then pow-wow once more in a gladiatorial set of playoffs: Qualifiers and Eliminators, the nerve-shredding ladder from which a single wrong step could mean your demise, all leading to one heart-pounding final that crowns India’s T20 emperor for another season.
| Details | IPL |
| Match | 59 |
| Innings | 59 |
| Balls | 1316 |
| Runs | 1703 |
| Wickets | 82 |
| Average | 20.77 |
| Economy | 7.76 |
| Strike Rate | 16.05 |
| Best Bowling Inning | 4/12 |
| Best Bowling Match | 4/12 |
| 5w | 0 |
| 10w | 0 |
Imran Tahir’s Batting Career Stats
The image of Imran Tahir, all legs and arms scurrying off on a wild celebration sprint in a game that scarcely stops wherever he releases it might be etched forever into cricket’s lore as the quintessential lick-and-a-promise legspin bowler but his little contribution with the bat carves out quite the niche for itself when placed under scrutiny. To say he was a tailender would be an understatement; he was the archetypal number 11, living proof that bowling wasn’t enough. Over the course of his international career for South Africa (107 ODIs, 20 T20Is), together he scored just 45 runs – a total put to shame by many all-rounders in one innings. The first-class numbers, which are slightly better, as well as a best of 54 isn’t any great shakes in a career that spanned over 194 innings. In the current age of the multi-faceted cricketer, Tahir’s batting tally presents as a delightful anachronism – an obstinately one-dimensional stat that reiterates a simple, beautiful fact: his sorcery extended only to the craft of taking wickets, and he wore as not a tear but an emblem -a straightforward mark- absolute specialization.
Read More: Australian Men’s Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Timeline
Test Format Stats
| Details | Test |
| Match | 20 |
| Innings | 23 |
| Runs | 130 |
| Ball Faced | 235 |
| Highest Score | 29 |
| Average | 9.29 |
| Strike Rate | 55.32 |
| NO | 9 |
| Fours | 18 |
| Sixes | 1 |
| 50s | 0 |
| 100s | 0 |
| 200s | 0 |
ODIs Format Stats
In the fifty-over game, Imran Tahir was a wicket-devouring predator. In his 107 ODIs, for South Africa, his 173 wickets at an eye-catching average of 24.83 and economy rate of 4.68. His deadly cocktail of legbreaks and an effectively unplayable googly earned 12 hauls of four or more wickets, constantly jarring the opposition’s momentum and making him the focus for South Africa’s bowling in the 2010s.
| Details | ODIs |
| Match | 107 |
| Innings | 36 |
| Runs | 157 |
| Ball Faced | 225 |
| Highest Score | 29 |
| Average | 7.85 |
| Strike Rate | 69.78 |
| NO | 16 |
| Fours | 21 |
| Sixes | 1 |
| 50s | 0 |
| 100s | 0 |
| 200s | 0 |
T20I Format Stats
T20I cricket is clearly cricket in its rawest form. Operated as a 20-over-a-side extravaganza, it prioritizes scalding strike rates and impudent shot-making, packing a game’s full arc into three hours of chaos. This brevity requires belligerent batting, devious variations from bowlers and the all-world athleticism of the fielders, which is why it has become an international smash hit that is played with enticing shifts in momentum and knife-edge, last-over outcomes.
| Details | T20I |
| Match | 38 |
| Innings | 4 |
| Runs | 19 |
| Ball Faced | 18 |
| Highest Score | 9 |
| Average | 19 |
| Strike Rate | 105.56 |
| NO | 3 |
| Fours | 1 |
| Sixes | 1 |
| 50s | 0 |
| 100s | 0 |
| 200s | 0 |
IPL Format Stats
The IPL is where cricket and chaos collide in a high-octane crucible of 20-over mayhem. Inaugural editions of the league are relentless marathons of 74 matches where ten franchises, divided into two groups, compete. All teams play each other in a double round-robin with the top four proceeding to the playoffs. These are the Eliminator and Qualifiers that will lead up to the grand final, where over two months of action, one champion will be crowned.
| Details | IPL |
| Match | 59 |
| Innings | 9 |
| Runs | 33 |
| Ball Faced | 37 |
| Highest Score | 13 |
| Average | 8.25 |
| Strike Rate | 89.19 |
| NO | 5 |
| Fours | 5 |
| Sixes | 0 |
| 50s | 0 |
| 100s | 0 |
| 200s | 0 |
Imran Tahir’s Career Information
The career of Imran Tahir is not a straightforward progression through the ranks but instead an epic, globe-trotting one-man play and tale of a wrist-spinning wanderer whose professional zeal led him to virtually every corner of the cricket world. His is the quintessential tale of perseverance, one that starts with alleyways of Lahore and reaches its apotheosis on the world’s biggest stages, 10 years after a period where qualification matches saw him represent Pakistan A, England A – even a season with the Pakistani squad – before his chameleon-like loyalty found solace in South Africa at 32. From that point, he arrived not as a debutant, rather as the finished article — a wily illusionist whose googly would turn into one of mass destruction in the middle overs. But outside the green and gold, Tahir became the ultimate T20 gun for hire – a man so wanted that his passport was adorned with more than 26 set of franchise-labels from Cape Town to California and Bloemfontein to Bangladesh, which made him one of cricket’s all-time great hydro-impressionists. Studded by those iconic, heart-on-sleeve sprints, his career was the gloriously unchecked cavorting of a man who never lost the wide-eyed joy of taking a wicket; it was as singularly memorable and unforgettable as his celebrations became.
| T20 debut | vs Sri Lanka, Aug 02 at 2013 at R.Premadasa Stadium |
| Last T20 | vs Sri Lanka, Mar 19 at 2019 at Newlands |
| Test debut | vs Australia, Nov 09 at 2011 at Newlands |
| Last Test | vs India, Dec 03 at 2015 at Arun Jaitley Stadium |
| Odi debut | vs West Indies, Feb 24 at 2011 at Arun Jaitley Stadium |
| Last Odi | vs Australia, Jul 06 at 2019 at Emirates Old Trafford |
| Ipl debut | vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, May 10 at 2014 at Arun Jaitley Stadium |
| Last Ipl | vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Apr 25 at 2021 at Wankhede Stadium |
