South Africa revealed its squad for T20 World Cup 2022 on Tuesday, 6th September, 2022. Temba Bavuma has been appointed as the skipper to lead the team in the ICC tournament. It will be his second T20 World Cup in a row as the captain. Most of the players from the legendary era of South Africa have either retired or are not a part of the squad. Fans will not be able to see the veteran players like AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris in the upcoming World Cup. There was a time when the above mentioned names were regarded as the best in their respective fields. However, they fail to get a place now in the squad. Let’s see Why Imran Tahir is not in South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2022 Squad?
South Africa ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Squad
Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, Reeza Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rillee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.
Reserves: Bjorn Fortuin, Marco Jansen and Andile Phehlukwayo.
Why Imran Tahir is not playing in T20 World Cup 2022?
The veteran spinner Imran Tahir is not playing in T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia because he has not been selected in South Africa ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Squad. He failed to get a place in the 15-member squad. The reason behind his omission is that South Africa have already moved its approach towards younger generation. Tahir is quite old now and didn’t have the same skills as he used to have in the past.
On Thursday, 9 September, South Africa announced their squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. Their squad has raised quite a few eyebrows and now fans and experts are talking about South Africa. This is because Cricket South Africa (CSA) did not include some veterans in their 15-member squad announced for the upcoming event. Specialists like Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris have been left out of the squad. Temba Bavuma has been assigned as the captain of South Africa in the UAE for the upcoming World Cup. See why Imran Tahir is not in South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2021 Squad.
The 42 year old leg spinner, Imran Tahir is one of the most sought-after spinners in the shortest format of the game. At a time, Tahir was also a crucial bowler for CSK. He was the highest wicket taker of IPL 2019 campaign. Still he was unable to find a place in the South African team for this year’s T20 World Cup squad.
Read also: Why Faf du Plessis is not in South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2022 Squad?
South Africa T20 World Cup 2021 Squad
Temba Bavuma (c), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock (wk), Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, W Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen
Why Imran Tahir is not in South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2021 Squad?
The reason behind Imran Tahir’s non-selection is that Cricket South Africa have plans to develop the younger spinners they have in the squad by giving them more opportunities.
The selection convener gave the following statement regarding Imran Tahir.
“Imran has had a great run and is still successful but we were very confident in the current crop of spinners we are developing, we felt that they deserved the opportunity.”
Chennai Super Kings are also not giving enough opportunities to Imran Tahir. He was the purple cap winner of IPL 2019, but he get to play only three matches in IPL 2020. In IPL 2021 Ist phase, he has played only 1 match.
Although, Imran Tahir will not feature for South Africa in T20 World Cup 2021, but he will be a part of CSK in the second half of IPL 2021 that is set to start on September 19.
