'I miss my mother and father seeing this' - Tahir

Being able to witness their son play cricket in an international tournament was one of former Pakistani bowler Imran Tahir's parents' greatest wishes. 

But while the spin bowler, who was granted South African citizenship in December, will travel to the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup as a member of the Proteas squad, his inclusion comes a year too late for his parents, who both passed away last year.

"I miss my mother and father seeing this," Tahir told the Sunday Times Extra.

"They always wanted to see that I was given the chance to play international cricket."

Tahir's first-class career began in Pakistan in the 1996-1997 cricket season.

He has played for a range of teams - from his home city of Lahore to English county side Hampshire - before finally settling in at KwaZulu-Natal side the Dolphins, where he has become a crowd favourite for his wicket-taking prowess.

The 31-year-old has been living in South Africa permanently for the past four years after meeting his wife, Sumaya, during one of his early visits to the country in 1997.

The announcement that he had made the South African side was made on the big screen during a recent Dolphins game after he had completed bowling his overs.

For Tahir, playing cricket for a national side has been a series of hits and misses.

Despite having made both the Pakistan Under-19 and Pakistan A team, he was never picked as part of the senior national side's starting 11.

The leading wicket taker domestically, he was called to join the South Africa squad for their Test series against England during the 2009/10 cricket season. However, he found out a day later that he would have to be dropped after Cricket South Africa said he was not eligible to play because he was not a citizen.

Tahir's hopes of becoming an integral part of the Proteas side were finally realised when, a day after being granted permission to play, he was included in the team facing India in the recent one-day series.

Although Tahir has yet to bowl a ball in the South African green and gold, he said he was still pleased to finally have a chance to show what he can do.

"I am still new and have to find my feet," he said.

"I have received a lot of support from Graeme (Smith), the rest of the team and the coach. They have really made me feel like I belong."