PSL 2021: Imran Tahir removes his jersey after picking a wicket to pay tribute to late cricketer Tahir Mughal

Imran Tahir, the South African leg-spinner, on Wednesday, March 3, paid tribute to Tahir Mughal, a famous local Lahori coach and cricketer, who passed away on January 10 at the age of 43. The late coach had 503 first-class wickets to his name, having played for no less than six departmental teams. He was diagnosed with stage four gallbladder cancer back in December 2020.

He also shared the new ball with the likes of Mohammad Asif, Shabbir Ahmed, and Waqar Younis. As far as Tahir is concerned, the 41-year-old played his first game in the 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL). He took the field for the Multan Sultans in their match against the Quetta Gladiators and didn’t flatter to deceive by any means. In his four overs, he conceded only 29 runs.

Imran Tahir’s heartfelt gesture

He also picked up the wickets of both the openers- Saim Ayub and Usman Khan. After getting rid of Ayub in the eighth over with the Gladiators’ score at 69, Tahir took off his jersey, revealing a white shirt with Mughal’s photo on it. “My brother. Will Miss You. RIP,” the message on the shirt read.

A touching tribute by @ImranTahirSA for Tahir Mughal, the Pakistani ex-cricketer who passed away earlier this year. #HBLPSL6 | #MatchDikhao | #QGvMS pic.twitter.com/TCqoWLT5BO

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 3, 2021

The Gladiators went on to win the game 22 runs and opened their account in the tournament after four defeats on the trot. Mohammad Rizwan, the skipper of the Sultans, was a tad disappointed after his team’s performance.

“We need a lot of improvement in fielding. We just can’t let away four-five runs as we did. It gets hard. 10-15 runs are a huge margin in T20s. Our batting also needs to do well. Cricket is a game of pressure and it doesn’t go your way all the time. But credit to their bowlers and Qais bowled well. There is pain in my leg but I hope I recover in time,” Rizwan told after the game.

Sarfaraz, the Gladiators’ skipper, realised the importance of the win for his team. “It was an important win for us and it will give us a lot of confidence. We took a chance with three spinners and it paid off today. We played according to the situation and pitch conditions. I would like to give credit to Usman Khan for the kind of knock he played,” he said.