The 45-year-old South Africa leg of the National Cricket Team Imran Tahir has openly expressed his frustration over unpaid debts from his previous tenure with the Rangpur Riders at Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Imran Tahir made serious allegations of not receiving payments from the franchise during the Global Super League match between the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Rangpur Riders at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
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Imran Tahir played 3 matches in BPL 2024
The veteran South African National Cricket Team spinner played 3 matches in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for Rangpur Riders.
In these three matches, he did a decent job for the franchise and took 6 wickets at an average of 12.33, an economy of 6.16 and a strike rate of 12. His best bowling figures for the team were 5/26.
Imran Tahir has played for many franchises around the world in his illustrious T20 career and at 45, he is still in demand and going strong.
In total, he has played 420 T20 matches in his career and has taken 526 wickets at an average of 19.85, an economy of 6.98 and a strike rate of 17, with 10 4-wicket hauls and 4 5-wicket hauls.
I played for Rangpur Riders last year in BPL and I don’t have all my contract money – Imran Tahir
Speaking at the toss ahead of the match against Rangpur Riders, Imran Tahir said he was desperate to win the match against the BPL franchise.
The skipper of Guyana’s Amazon Warriors revealed that he was motivated to win for personal reasons as the Rangpur Riders have not paid him contract money since his tenure with the franchise.
“We want to win every game, that’s why we’re here,” Tahir said at the launch of their World Super League match in Providence, Guyana.
“Today’s game especially, obviously I want to win it for Guyana but also for personal reasons. I played for Rangpur Riders last year in the BPL and I don’t have all my contract money. So that’s what motivates me in today’s game. I want to it’s going really well against them.”
We are better people than them – Imran Tahir
Tahir launched a direct attack on Bangladesh and Rangpur Riders, saying they will show them that Guyana welcomes everyone and that there are senior people in the franchise and in the country. He said:
“We want to show them that Guyana welcomes them, they bring their local players here, they earn money, they play good cricket and we show them that we are better people than them.”
This was not the first time that Tahir faced payment problems in the BPL as in 2019, he was embroiled in an issue with the Sylhet franchise and alleged that they did not pay the agreed fees.
Talking about the match, Guyana Amazon Warriors failed to win as Rangpur Riders won by 15 runs. Imran Tahir gave his best with the ball in the first innings and took two wickets in his 4 overs to restrict the opposition to 117. However, his team failed to chase down the target and were bowled out for 102.
