Jane Cable meets Imran Tahir and discovers she's a sucker for a love story!

By a lucky quirk I had arranged to meet Hampshire’s overseas player, Imran Tahir, straight after the match in which he achieved his best ever List A figures of 5 for 27. He didn’t seem to be particularly hung up on the statistic. “I had five against Sri Lanka before, but I don’t know how many I went for. But I had heard that today was my best figures.”

So far during Imran’s brief Hampshire career, the media have labelled him as an itinerant journeyman and made much of the number of First Class teams he’s played for, but the real story is actually more human than that.

Imran was born in Pakistan and played most of his cricket there until two years ago. “I went to see Sumayya Dildar, my wife, in South Africa. We got married there and she wanted me to play in South Africa. It wasn’t my plan; I still wanted to play in Pakistan but my wife said no. I really love her, so I said OK, if I’m going to play cricket then I can play anywhere. I’d played Under 19 cricket with Pakistan including a tour of Australia and a World Cup. I played First Class cricket for a few teams there, and then for Pakistan A. But now I have signed for the Titans for the next two seasons. So far Sumayya and I are both very happy with the decision.

“Obviously I’ve been playing league cricket in England, but I always thought I should be playing County Cricket. I had to wait quite a long time.” After a brief spell with Middlesex a few years ago, Imran spent an ever shorter time with Yorkshire at the end of last season. “Those other chances I had were very tough ones, because for Yorkshire I had one game and I had to do something like take ten wickets to make my name. That’s never going to be easy for anyone in the world, unless you are very lucky. We were playing against Sussex at Sussex; it was a big game and we didn’t play well. I always feel pain about it because a similar thing happened with Middlesex.

“I thought to myself that I deserved a few more chances to prove myself. Hampshire gave me a complete chance, and obviously I’m always going to remember that, no matter if I’m with them next year or not. Before I played the first game I knew that I was going to play six or seven games no matter what, so you have confidence that if you don’t do well in one then there are others to come. I’ve always had belief in myself, but it’s been very hard.”

The one thing that Imran has done since arriving at Hampshire is to make bowling look easy. In his first three County Championship matches he has taken 22 wickets at an average of 16, and now achieved his best ever one day figures. But he is not taking all the credit himself. “My wife, Sumayya, she’s always there for me; my family in Pakistan, my mum, my four sisters, two brothers and my niece. When I came to join Hampshire it was a big challenge for me and they all made me stronger and made me do something. I always play cricket with passion because it’s in my blood, and after playing the first game I thought I could have a good season here. I’m just loving it.”

Unfortunately, Sumayya was not at The Rose Bowl to witness Imran’s five for against Sussex, as the couple had moved from Stoke on Trent the previous day and she was too tired. “I was really disappointed I couldn’t spend more time with her today” Imran told me “Because it’s her birthday. But she’s very understanding and she’s already told me that my performance today is her birthday present. I’m so grateful to her. She wanted to come and watch because she comes to almost every game.”

Trying to pull Imran back to the subject of cricket, I wondered if he felt he has learnt a lot by playing in different countries. “Absolutely. You learn cricket every day, and by going outside Pakistan I met so many different people, different coaches. I always listen to other people and it does help. It’s the different conditions, different people, more freedom – so many things. It helps you with your whole life; now I’m the kind of person who can cope in any situation.

“When I realised I wasn’t going to play for Pakistan I always wanted to play County Cricket. Thanks to Hampshire, people know about me and I hope I get another contract somewhere. I’m not just saying this, but I’d really like it to be with Hampshire; the other players are really helpful and there’s an unbelievable atmosphere in the dressing room. If you have ability and if you have support from your teammates and coach, that makes you a bigger player. That’s exactly what I have here so I’m really grateful to them; to everyone who belongs to Hampshire, the management, the office people, they’ve all put their trust in me. I would definitely like to come back to play here if they make me an offer.”

Tahir bowling against Sussex under The Rose Bowl's floodlits

Tahir claims Sussex skipper Adams (21) lbw, his first wicket of the evening

Tahir celebrates taking his 5th wicket for 27

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