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[caption id="attachment_11674" align="alignnone" width="580"] Cricket means life for South African leg spinner Imran Tahir. Image Source: delhidaredevils.com[/caption] Kolkata: He has seen the struggles in life in the truest sense. Pakistan born South African leg spinner Imran Tahir has travelled all across the globe to become a successful International cricketer. Imran, who started playing cricket in his native Pakistan, tried his luck in England playing county cricket before landing himself a contract to play for South Africa. He played for an astonishing 24 clubs so far in his career. The Delhi Daredevils leg spinner spoke his heart out in a candid interview to xtratime.in before flying off to Delhi. Here are the excerpts: XT) Delhi Daredevils have failed to impress in last couple of seasons in IPL. It was the same against the Knight Riders yesterday. Why is it so? IT) I always look at this way. As long as you are trying and putting in your hard work results will definitely show. I am a firm believer of putting in your best effort at whatever you are doing. We definitely have the team to go distance this season in IPL. We got the ability and there is a good mixture of youngsters and senior players. We will surprise a lot of persons with our performance in the coming matches. XT) How has been the experience of bowling with Amit Mishra? IT) I have a lot of respect for him. He has been a great bowler over the years. It is nice to share our knowledge between us. At times he helps me and vice versa. We constantly share our ideas and try different things at the nets. XT) How do you rate the likes of Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith? Who is the most difficult batsman to bowl? IT) All four of them are quality batsman and they have proved with their performance. They all are at their prime and have age on their side. It is always a challenge to bowl against them. I must admit I am lucky enough not to bowl against AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla.(laughs) XT) It must be really frustrating to be labeled chokers in international cricket? IT) People have a lot of expectation in us as we really are a good team. It’s not that we have not performed well on bigger stages. We reached the semi finals of the ICC CWC 2015. But somehow we have not being able to perform in the knock out stages. May be we need a bit of luck on the bigger stages. XT) Imran, how do you keep yourself fit at the age of 36 years? IT) Thanks for reminding me that I’ 36 years old. I just want to stay as fit as I can. I was talking to Hogg the other day and got amazed to listen to him. I draw a lot of confidence watching him bowl at this age. I work hard on my fitness and believe in staying fit. I strive on playing cricket and will continue to do so as long I am enjoying. XT) Imran, you made your Test and ODI debut under Graeme Smith. How influential role has he played in your career? IT) I can never forget the role of Graeme Smith in my career. He has always backed me and it was due to him I got an opportunity to play for South Africa. I will forever cherish sharing the dressing room with the likes of Smith, Amla and AB de Villiers. XT) You have played for Pakistan U’19 side before making your debut for South Africa. How do you managed to adjust playing for different countries? IT) I did play U’19 cricket for Pakistan as I was born and brought up there. Obviously wanted to play for Pakistan but destiny did not allow me to do so. I went to England and played a lot of league cricket and county cricket before moving to South Africa. I would like to thank the Cricket South Africa officials for giving me an opportunity to represent the Proteas. I just want to give my best for South Africa. XT) Kevin Pietersen is mulling the idea of returning to his native South Africa to play International cricket again for South Africa. Do you have any similar thoughts? IT) I really have nothing to comment but all I can say is I am happy playing for South Africa. XT) You have mastered the art of leg spin. How was it possible? IT) I worked really hard since I was not a natural leg spinner. I used to play tennis ball cricket before my cousins suggested me I should try bowling leg spin. I draw inspiration from watching stalwarts like Shane Warne and Abdul Qadir. I keep talking to Hogg about the art of leg spin bowling. It has been a fascinating experience for me watching them bowl. XT) Talk us about your role model Abdul Qadir? IT) I grew up watching him. It was an unbelievable experience as no one could pick him. He has been a huge motivation for me. I have tried following his run up and his unique action as it impressed me a lot. Did try to copy him at times but decided to stick to my own talent. XT) Do you have any regrets in your career so far? IT) I am happy with whatever I have achieved so far in my career. I have a lovely family with my lovely wife and two year old son Jibran( meaning unite people). Jibran celebrated his second birthday yesterday.