The contest is between bat and ball. The contest is on the 22 yards. It’s all about skills of the two individuals and the team. After that everything should seep into normalcy. The players should not hold anything that happened on the field against each other (except personal sledges). Cricket is a gentleman’s game and South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir is a testimony to that.
After a scintillating performance against Zimbabwe in the first T20I on October 9, Tahir decided to help the 21-year-old Zimbabwean leg-spinner Brandon Mavuta. Despite taking a five-wicket haul (which don’t come easy in T20 cricket), the 39-year-old tried to help Mavuta who bowled an economical spell giving just 19 runs in 4 overs and taking a wicket.
As the video of Tahir giving tips to Mavuta went viral, Twitter lauded him for his sportsmanship:
Give that man a ‘ BELLS’ awesome to help someone in your Profession . That player will pass it forward when he reaches top levels as well … Sport is King !!!
— Donovan Pillai (@donovanp365) October 10, 2018
True sportsmanship.
— Clive Simpkins (@clivesimpkins) October 10, 2018
Talent recognises talent
After seeing the raw potential of Brandon Mavhuta… Tahir couldn’t resist to give tips. That leggie at 19 has huge potential with both the ball and bat
— De-Donn Homes (@edhomesXlV) October 10, 2018
Two more T20Is to go
As long as he’s giving tips after the series and not before it
— Bilal (@billz_25) October 10, 2018
Indeed
That was a class act…we’re all brothers
— RRM (@RonnieM83) October 10, 2018
It will, it will
It should be making front page headlines but not .we hear about how lies are termed judgement of error in politics .well done Imran now that’s fair play
— andries malema (@M1Andries) October 10, 2018
Always happy to help
This right here is why I love Imran Tahir he’s always happy to chat. From one leg spinner to another. #SAvZIM pic.twitter.com/iKcLEVwenk
— Tim-CricketGuy (@Tim32_cricket) October 9, 2018
Great stuff from Imran Tahir after the 1st #SAvZIM T20I last night.
Sharing tips with Zimbabwe leg spinner Brandon Mavuta.
True spirit of cricket.#SAvsZIM #Cricket pic.twitter.com/HVoQsdSFsW
— CricBlog (@cric_blog) October 10, 2018
Tahir seemed impressed with the youngster and tried to help him better his tactics after the match. He took the wicket of Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis and did not let them score big.
Tahir, on the other hand was unstoppable. He rushed through the top order in the powerplay overs leaving barely any chance to stay in contention of winning the game.
Tahir has been supportive of bowlers in whichever part of the world he plays, whether it’s T20 leagues or international matches. During Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, he even accepted that Rashid Khan is a better bowler than him.
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He believes in guiding youngsters as he said in 2017, “Nobody told me these things early on in life”.
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