He last played for South Africa in 2019.
Veteran South African spinner Imran Tahir has expressed his wish to play the World Cup 2027 at home. Tahir retired from the format after the 2019 edition of the tournament, but he didn’t officially retire from T20Is.
Recently, he returned to the CSA One-Day Cup 2026, where he has been representing the Dolphins and performing reasonably well. His return to the format suggests Tahir might be eyeing that World Cup spot in the Proteas side, as they look to overcome past failures.
Former South Africa analyst Prasanna Lara, who still works with a domestic South African side, confirmed that the leg spinner has the global event next year in his mind. On his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Prasanna shared his picture with Imran Tahir, confirming that the player said he’s available for the World Cup next year.
Tahir has seven wickets at an average of 25.14 and an economy rate of 5.33 in four innings, with a best of 3/41, in the competition. Notably, the 46-year-old has bowled 10 overs twice and nine overs once to prove his fitness and ability to bowl long spells, despite mostly playing T20 cricket at this age.
There’s actually a chance for Imran Tahir to make a surprising comeback to South Africa’s ODI team for the World Cup 2027, where he will be 48 years old. Currently, the Proteas don’t have any genuine wrist spinners in the setup since Tabraiz Shamsi’s exclusion, and they have operated with two finger spinners – Keshav Maharaj and George Linde – apart from the part-timer Aiden Markram.
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For the mega event, a wrist spinner who can bowl attacking lengths and bring wickets in the middle overs will be vital. Tahir has done this role consistently before, and his recent performances show he might not be done just yet.
South Africa have a solid young talent in Nqaba Peter, who has shown good skills early on and will be around the setup in the coming months, but he has a long way to go before becoming a complete bowler. The only issue with Tahir remains his age, for the World Cup will require him to field all 50 overs in high-intensity games, with batters more skilled than he is currently bowling to.
That said, he still brings quality, which can’t be denied, and if Peter or any other wrist spinner doesn’t develop enough by the time of the event, the veteran player will definitely be considered. Imran Tahir has returned to domestic cricket when he could have simply avoided it, which indicates his intentions.
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