Faf du Plessis Picks Imran Tahir as His Biggest Weapon

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis showered praise on leg spinner Imran Tahir after the latter played a crucial part in ensuring his team cruised to a comprehensive eight wickets victory in the opening ODI against Sri Lanka. Imran Tahir lost his Cricket South Africa contract just a couple of days back. He is an integral part of the limited overs team. In fact, Tahir will turn 40 by the time the 2019 World Cup starts in England later in the year.

Courtesy a brilliant century from captain Faf du Plessis, the hosts made a light work of the target set by Sri Lanka and cruised to eight wickets victory chasing a target of 232. Tahir stalled the Sri Lankan batting in the middle overs which resulted in the hosts chasing a relatively modest total. The leg-spinner made important breakthroughs and returned with figures of 3/26 in his quota of 10 overs.

Imran Tahir is my biggest weapon in limited overs format says Faf du Plessis 

Imran Tahir has done a great job for the Proteas.

Skipper Faf du Plessis said that Tahir is his biggest weapon in the limited overs format. Over the years Tahir has indeed evolved as a huge weapon for the South African limited overs team. However, with age not by his side it might not be a surprise if he is overlooked for the 2019 World Cup. However given the current scenario, it might be a huge risk for South Africa to drop Tahir given his success rate in the limited overs format.

“He is probably my biggest weapon as a captain over the years,” Du Plessis said of Tahir, His contract for the South African team was not renewed for the 2019/20 season, Imran bowled brilliantly in the middle overs today but it is really important to get wickets with the new ball,” said Du Plessis.

Yet again Tahir showed why he is one of the finest bowlers in the limited overs format. With the World Cup in May, it might be a foolish decision from the South African selectors if they decide to drop Tahir from the quadrennial event.

Sri Lanka lost the plot due to lack of partnerships 

Batting first, Sri Lanka kept losing wickets on a consistent basis. It never allowed them to get a grip on the game. Sri Lankan skipper Lasith Malinga rued the lack of partnerships behind the thrashing loss in the opening ODI. Kusal Mendis was the top scorer for Sri Lanka with a fluent 60.

He shared a 94 runs stand with Dananjaya de Silva to steady the sinking Sri Lankan ship. However, in the end, they could only muster 231 runs which were never going to be threatening for a world-class South African batting line-up.