“He is an absolute gun”: When Faf du Plessis hailed Imran Tahir despite verbal spat with David Warner costing him 30% match fee

South African spinner Imran Tahir is 43 years old, and he is still playing in T20 leagues around the globe. Tahir is currently playing for MI Emirates in the ILT20 League and has scalped 5 wickets so far in the tournament. It is a well-known fact that Tahir loves taking wickets and his celebrations are always on the top.

Tahir is a very calm personality outside the field, but there have been instances where he lost his cool on the field. One such incident happened in 2016 in an ODI match between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town. In the 38th over of the Australian innings, Tahir got engaged in a verbal argument with David Warner.

The umpires came in between to stop Tahir, but he did not stop and kept going. ICC said in their release that Tahir showed a ‘lack of respect’ towards the umpires and was fined 30% of his match fees and handed two demerit points as well. South African captain Fad du Plessis was also fined 20% of his match fee for maintaining a slow over rate.

Faf du Plessis hailed Imran Tahir despite verbal spat with David Warner

Faf du Plessis hailed the leg-spinner despite his behavior on the field against David Warner. du Plessis called Tahir the main reason why South Africa were the number one ODI team in the world at that time. The former South African captain said that Tahir wants to win games, and he is the best player for him.

“Tahir is an absolute gun,” Faf du Plessis said.

“He is the reason we are where we are in one-day cricket. He is a competitor, he wants to win games and he wanted to show everyone that he is still our No.1 which he is.”

South Africa posted a total of 327-8 in the 1st innings, and Australia managed to score just 296 runs despite an excellent inning from Warner. Warner scored 173 runs in just 136 balls with the help of 24 boundaries. Tahir bowled an excellent spell of spin, where he scalped a couple of wickets conceding just 42 runs.