Imran Tahir is preparing to make his Notts Outlaws debut against Essex in the Royal London One-Day Cup, and he believes the 50-over format is on the up.
The 36-year-old South Africa international arrived in the UK on Wednesday having signed for the Trent Bridge outfit as overseas player until the end of the season.
And, speaking ahead of the trip to Chelmsford, Tahir stated his belief that the recent ICC Cricket World Cup left the longer white ball format in a position of strength.
“We’re seeing the public take more interest in 50 over cricket now,” he said.
“A year ago people thought T20 was taking over and that 50 overs was going to die.
“But its new found popularity is nice to see and, if you get the crowds and the interest, as a sportsman you want to be in that environment.”
Tahir, who was a Lord’s final winner with Hampshire in 2009 and Warwickshire in 2010, admits he’s already dreaming of a hat-trick of silverware successes at the home of cricket.
“I would love to play in the Lord's final, to play at Lord’s and play in a final is every cricketer’s dream.
“I have been lucky enough to play in two and won them both. It was a great experience, why not a third one? I am going to give 100 per cent to make sure Notts get to the final.”
With 224 List A wickets at an average of 21.54, Tahir’s pedigree for the 50-over format is second to almost none.
And, while the 36-year-old accepts that his game is ideally suited to the format, he admits to not always having felt so prepared for the challenges of the limited overs game.
“For me every competition is something special. Every year and everywhere I play, I take my cricket very seriously,” he said.
“I am very grateful to Nottinghamshire for giving me the opportunity to show my skills again in county cricket. I am really looking forward to it.”
“I am starting with the 50 over competition, something I’ve had a lot of success in and I want to carry on with that.
“Obviously this form of cricket suits my bowling, that is what I have been told.
“I am really keen to do well and I have trained really hard before coming over, so I am just looking forward to getting the best results, for the team first and foremost, and then for me.
“Over the last ten years I have learnt a lot about leg spin bowling and I am still learning about it,” Tahir continued.
“For me, I think all the things I have learnt over the years, it is obviously giving me more success now than it was before.
“Before I could only bowl a few balls, which isn’t good enough for modern day cricket.
“If you don’t have those skills then you have to spin the ball like Shane Warne to be successful.
“I decided I needed to learn more about leg spin, about all the variations and having as many of them in my armoury as I can, just trying to confuse the batsman all the time.”
Tahir has replaced Dan Christian in an otherwise unchanged squad for the Outlaws, who have won both of their completed matches in the competition to date.
Notts Outlaws squad to face Essex (from): Jake Ball, Luke Fletcher, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Brett Hutton, Michael Lumb, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Chris Read, Imran Tahir, Brendan Taylor, James Taylor, Riki Wessels and Sam Wood.