Graeme Smith sets eyes on Indian ODI series
South African captain Graeme Smith has claimed that he is elated with the prospects of playing a genuine spinner in the shape of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-c64193 Tahir who has been selected in the national team for the One Day International series against
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
The Lahore-born leg-spinner, who has more than 500 first-class wickets to his name, finally got the eligibility to represent his adopted homeland at the highest level of the game.
Tahir’s story is an amazing fairytale journey that started when he came to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in search of his beloved. He married her and stayed back to play first-class cricket in his wife’s land before getting his citizenship in December 2010
which meant the green signal for him.
He was once regarded as a serious contender for Pakistan’s Test team but fate had something else in store for him. After toiling for more than 10 years in Pakistan, England and South Africa, he got a chance to represent the Proteas in international
cricket.
Smith said he is looking forward to helping the 31-year-old leg spinner, and make him comfortable in the national squad. “It's about getting to know him a little bit as a person; spending some time with him is going to be crucial.” Smith
said.
Smith added that there was no major pressure on the leg-spinner. The left-handed opening batsman thinks that he would be able to adjust to the vagaries of the highest level of the game considering his vast experience in first-class cricket.
For him the most important thing for the time being was to manage his talent properly. “I just want to let him find his feet and grow in the environment,” Smith said.
However there are little chances of him making an appearance in the opening ODI of the series set to be played at the Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday.
Smith already has an eye on February’s ICC World Cup 2011 as he is finalising his squad for the all-important tournament where the Proteas have had plenty of bad luck since their maiden appearance in 1992.
“It's going to be very difficult to produce Nagpur out at the Wanderers.” Still, Smith realised the series was important in terms of getting mentally ready for the World Cup. “Our mindset is very crucial here. We want to play really good
cricket and get the confidence up and players need to get good performances under their belt.”
Smith also has his eyes on some other members of the squad in the series against India. He said that he wants to strengthen the batting of the team further and ensure that the tail contributes with runs, especially in a crunch situation.
He spoke highly of Wayne Parnell who has impressed with the bat in domestic cricket lately.
“Wayne Parnell heads the pack in terms of developing his batting and his bowling and we are trying to get him to a point where he could play that number eight role, performing with both bat and ball,” said Smith.
South Africa and India would be playing a five-match ODI series which is the last opportunity for the two squads to finalise their preparations for the all-important World Cup.
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