Mzansi Super League: Shamsi licking his lips at thought of turning it in Paarl

Tabraiz Shamsi might just be licking his lips at the prospect of bowling on his new home Eurolux Boland Park pitch that may just be tailor-made for him, as he turns out for Paarl Rocks in the Mzansi Super League.

The left arm chinaman bowler will turn out for the Rocks soon after his return from Proteas duty in Australia next week, as his Rocks teammates get into preparatory mode for their tournament-opening fixture at home against Tshwane Spartans on Sunday afternoon (3.30pm).

Generally, the Paarl outfield is among the bigger venues in the country while the wicket is known to be more suitable for spin, especially in day matches with all but one of the Rocks fixtures being played in daylight.

“I always enjoy bowling in Paarl, it does offer assistance to spin bowlers and the boundaries are quite big in comparison to other grounds in the country which is also a help,” Shamsi said.

“I think that in the home games, the pitch will be suitable for my type of bowling, but with that said, you still have to do the job on the day. I won’t take anything for granted and I am looking forward to playing in front of passionate support in Paarl. It is going to be exciting.”

The mighty Rocks might actually be carrying the most potent tournament squad suitable for this format of the game with the likes of Henry Davids, Mangaliso Mosehle, Dane Paterson, Bjorn Fortuin and Vaughn van Jaarsveld at their disposal.

Shamsi and Proteas captain Faf du Plessis are the top attractions alongside international marquee signing, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

The duo of David Wiese and Australian Michael Klinger will be replacing Cameron Delport and Paul Stirling, with Delport on duty elsewhere for the start of the tournament.

In the meantime, Shamsi is also looking forward to playing alongside and against some of his national teammates in the coming weeks while also praising the Mzansi Super League concept.

The 28-year-old said: “I am fortunate to have Faf in my team. It will be a wonderful challenge playing against Proteas teammates with one particular person being batsman Hashim Amla, who is one of the best players of spin in the world. I am looking forward to challenging myself against him. Another one is AB de Villiers…what I’m not looking forward to is facing (Jozi Stars fast bowler) Kagiso Rabada!”

On the Mzansi Super League, Shamsi said: “I think this will be a great platform for upcoming talent in South Africa because we have seen what the Indian Premier League has done for Indian cricketers. You can see how strong their team is now because the young players mingle with the best players in the world and get to learn from them.

“I think South African cricket overall, will be in a better state after the tournament kicks off, and this can only mean good things for up and coming talent in South Africa.”