'He reminds me': Tahir reveals why he performed Ronaldo-esque celebration
Rangpur Riders' Imran Tahir stated that providing opportunities for local talent can assist Bangladesh cricket in building the next superstars of the future, and the veteran South African leg-spinner also believes that local players play an important role in winning a championship.
"I think if you give the opportunity to the local talents today, five years from now you will be seeing superstars and good players," Tahir -- who played his first match for Rangpur in their 53-run win over Chattogram Challengers in a Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) fixture on Saturday -- told the media in Chattogram on Monday.
"The leagues always produce good players. I have seen a few BPL matches on TV and obviously our team Rangpur has got some good local players. The thing is, if you want to win a competition you have to have good local players and we are lucky that we have that," he added.
The seasoned spinner – who boasts 497 wickets in 403 T20 matches -- also advised young leg-spinners, emphasising the importance of setting goals and training properly in order to enhance their talents.
"You know even though there are leg-spinners but they are different as they have different actions and stuff, and I think they just need to bowl. I used to bowl three hours a day when I was young, and I think that's what made me a better bowler.
"I think they also need to know what they are bowling as they just can't come and bowl everyday as they have to set a target considering the batter and the match situation like that. But overall, we just used to bowl a lot that helped us to perfect our line and length, which is fine, but the cricket has changed a lot as they got a lot of facilities these days, which we never had. I think you should do a lot of target-bowling, but especially to the batters," he said.
'Age is not a barrier'
Asked about the key to his fitness, the 44-year-old, who is the oldest cricketer to play in the (BPL), stated that age is "not a barrier" for him.
"Secret is good diet, [and] hard work. When I run and go to gym, nobody watches me; and that's the difficult part. But if I want to keep playing, I need to do that and I think that's the only secret and I try not to get disheartened thinking that age is the barrier for me -- it's not. I am moving well, bowling well so I can't see myself not playing cricket, especially modern-day cricket, which is very tough. But I think I have the motivation to do well," said Tahir.
'Purely for my son'
The leg-spinner, who is known for his animated celebration after picking a wicket, was recently seen performing Cristiano Ronaldo's famous "Siuu" celebration. The reason being: his son is a big fan of the Portuguese football superstar.
"It's purely for my son. He is a big fan of Ronaldo and he wants me to do it and one day I forgot and then he reminds me to do it.
"I mean I have been doing this for him, and it's just something not natural for me. The natural one of mine--it just happens and I enjoy my wicket. I always wanted to be here where I am today and always wanted to be in front of the world and show my skills. I want to express myself as I have a lot of respect and passion for the game which comes out when I take wickets," he added.