South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir has reveled he will retire from one-day internationals after this summer’s Cricket World Cup.
Tahir was not on Cricket South Africa’s list of contracted players for the 2019/20 season and has since revealed he told the country’s officials he will call it quits after the tournament in England starting on May 30.
“I would love to play for as long as I can… I have always wanted to play in the World Cup. It would be a great achievement for me to play for this great team,” Tahir said in a statement released by Cricket South Africa.
The 40-year-old is however expected to be available for the Proteas T20 internationals until at least the 2020 T20 World Cup.
Tahir took 3/26 in what was his 95th ODI on Sunday against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers taking his career haul in the format to 156 wickets. Tahir also took 57 wickets in 20 Tests played between 2011 and 2015 and has claimed 62 scalps in 37 T20Is to date. The Pakistan-born leg-spinner holds the record for the best return by a Proteas bowler in an ODI for his 7/45 against the West Indies at Warner Park in 2016.