Durban – Former Proteas star Imran Tahir will return to the Hollywoodbets Dolphins on Friday when they begin their CSA One Day Cup title defence against the Dafabet Warriors in Gqeberha.
The 46-year-old Tahir last represented the Dolphins in 2020 and will add important experience to the team, who will be losing seven players to the Proteas squad for their tour of New Zealand.
“Imran is a fantastic team guy, and we are really looking forward to having him in our space for the One Day Cup,” Dolphins coach Quinton Friend said.
“With us losing all those players for the New Zealand tour, I thought it would be great to bring in a guy like Imran with all his experience, and we’re really excited to have him in our changeroom.”
The Dolphins romped home to the 50-over title last season after going on a run of six wins in a row to finish the tournament. It was a turnaround of significant proportions after they lost their opening two matches and had their third match rained out.
Effectively, they had to play the remainder of the competition like a knockout tournament, and they went on to win every game from that point to lift the trophy.
With a 50-over World Cup coming to South Africa in 2027, Friend believes the relevance of the domestic 50-over competition could not be higher.
“The One Day Cup is a huge competition domestically, and if you look at how Cricket South Africa are trying to build a squad for the World Cup next year, it’s crucial that the players understand the 50-over format.
“I think it’s a fantastic format, and building up to that World Cup it’s really important that we can focus on the things we want to achieve as a nation at that tournament.
“From a CSA perspective, the One Day Cup is massive for domestic cricket and is definitely one of those competitions that everyone wants to win.”
The Dolphins will be without seven players, for a portion of the tournament, who have been called up to the Proteas squad for their upcoming tour of New Zealand. It’s exactly what Friend wants to see, and now it offers more opportunities for other players to shine.
“It’s going to be huge for us to lose that many players but, in saying that, we are extremely proud of those players. I want to say well done to them because they’ve done exceptionally well and are reaping the rewards.
“We will be challenged by this, but we are embracing that, and we’ve done a lot of work over the last two years with our pipeline to get players up to a level where they can compete and win matches for us.
“The expectation is always to go out and win this trophy and find consistency in the competition. We need to find a way to put together a team that can win games, and that’s an exciting challenge for us,” Friend commented.
With the One Day Cup rounding out the season, Friend and his squad are excited for the final push and opportunity to win silverware.
“It’s been a decent season so far for us. It’s been a long season, but the guys are super excited for the One Day Cup.
“The team is always really excited for white-ball cricket, and the boys are really up for this 50-over competition.
“The management team has put in the hard yards to make sure we are covering our bases, and we are heading into the competition with confidence in how we have prepared,” Friend added.
The Dolphins will welcome back Jon-Jon Smuts to their squad after he recently represented Italy in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Hollywoodbets Dolphins One Day Cup Squad
Andile Simelane, Marques Ackerman, Imran Tahir, Prenelan Subrayen (c), Eathan Bosch, Nqobani Mokoena, Khaya Zondo, Slade van Staden, Hanu Viljoen, Romashan Pillay, Tristan Luus, Jon-Jon Smuts, Ottniel Baartman, Tshepang Dithole
Source: cricket.co.za
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