Rangpur Riders' Imran Tahir stated that providing opportunities for local talent can assist Bangladesh cricket in building the next superstars of the future, and the veteran South African leg-spinner also believes that local players play an important role in winning a championship.
"I think if you give the opportunity to the local talents today, five years from now you will be seeing superstars and good players," Tahir -- who played his first match for Rangpur in their 53-run win over Chattogram Challengers in a Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) fixture on Saturday -- told the media in Chattogram on Monday.
"The leagues always produce good players. I have seen a few BPL matches on TV and obviously our team Rangpur has got some good local players. The thing is, if you want to win a competition you have to have good local players and we are lucky that we have that," he added.
The seasoned spinner – who boasts 497 wickets in 403 T20 matches -- also advised young leg-spinners, emphasising the importance of setting goals and training properly in order to enhance their talents.
"You know even though there are leg-spinners but they are different as they have different actions and stuff, and I think they just need to bowl. I used to bowl three hours a day when I was young, and I think that's what made me a better bowler.
"I think they also need to know what they are bowling as they just can't come and bowl everyday as they have to set a target considering the batter and the match situation like that. But overall, we just used to bowl a lot that helped us to perfect our line and length, which is fine, but the cricket has changed a lot as they got a lot of facilities these days, which we never had. I think you should do a lot of target-bowling, but especially to the batters," he said.
Asked about the key to his fitness, the 44-year-old, who is the oldest cricketer to play in the (BPL), stated that age is "not a barrier" for him.
"Secret is good diet, [and] hard work. When I run and go to gym, nobody watches me; and that's the difficult part. But if I want to keep playing, I need to do that and I think that's the only secret and I try not to get disheartened thinking that age is the barrier for me -- it's not. I am moving well, bowling well so I can't see myself not playing cricket, especially modern-day cricket, which is very tough. But I think I have the motivation to do well," said Tahir.
The leg-spinner, who is known for his animated celebration after picking a wicket, was recently seen performing Cristiano Ronaldo's famous "Siuu" celebration. The reason being: his son is a big fan of the Portuguese football superstar.
"It's purely for my son. He is a big fan of Ronaldo and he wants me to do it and one day I forgot and then he reminds me to do it.
"I mean I have been doing this for him, and it's just something not natural for me. The natural one of mine--it just happens and I enjoy my wicket. I always wanted to be here where I am today and always wanted to be in front of the world and show my skills. I want to express myself as I have a lot of respect and passion for the game which comes out when I take wickets," he added.
