Imran Tahir still waiting to launch career

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Imran Tahir still waiting to launch career

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Imran Tahir is yet to make an permanent mark on Test cricket.

07 November,2012 08:36 pm

Imran Tahir must feel like his cricket career is on permanent repeat. Before every series, South Africas pace attack gets so talked up it is as though Tahir is in the side for either his fielding or his dressing room smoothie-making capabilities.Then, as a consolation prize, Tahir gets a mention in a backhanded compliment kind of way. Maybe if the quicks dont end the match in three days and the sun shines and pitch wears sufficiently, he could have an impact. So far, none of that has had the chance to happen.Tahir and Vernon Philander became Test players on the same day. They both donned South African whites for the first time last November at Newlands, known as the countrys best track for spinners.The unusual timing of the Test meant the match did end in three days and got Tahir 10 overs, none in the second innings.Against Sri Lanka who followed soon after Australia departed South African shores, seamer-friendly pitches were prepared to honour the notion that subcontinent batsmen could be scared by bounce.Tahir was talked down before the tour to England, against a team who thought they had a better spinner in Graeme Swann, one who would swing the debate about who had the best attack in the world their way.In the end, the apparent disharmony of Englands line-up meant the question of the best attack faded into the background and more pertinent ones had to be asked about No. 4 batsmen and dressing-room culture. Most arguments that start with Tahir end with something else.While Philander now has 61 Tests wickets and has become so popular that in his first full year as a national cricketer he won South African Sportsmen of the Year two days ago, Tahir has quietly snaffled 26 scalps and is still waiting for his career to take off. Maybe, just maybe, it will happen in Brisbane.The Gabba pitch has been described as juicy and looks it but, as curator Kevin Mitchell Jr pointed out, it will probably only stay that way on day one. Then, like any good cricket track it will flatten first and break up later.At that point, Tahir will come into play and the groundsman all but confirmed it: Well get a bit of deterioration as the game goes on with some cracking, and then those footmarks will dust up for the spinners.