New Delhi: If Steve Smith was the architect of Rising Pune Supergiant's win over Mumbai Indians in the 2nd Match of IPL 10, Imran Tahir deserves probably equal amount of recognition for his terrific spell with the ball in which he took 3 wickets, including that of the MI captain Rohit Sharma.


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The South African spinner, who presently is No. in ICC T20I rankings for bowlers, spoke iplt20.com on various subjects including his early impression of playing alongside MS Dhoni. (RPS vs MI - As it happened | Report)


"It’s a great feeling. Thanks to the Pune team who chose to call me and offered me a chance to play. It’s extremely kind of them to provide me with an opportunity to perform. I was initially very sad not to be a part of this league, but really pleased with myself to have performed well on getting an opportunity and making the most of it. The batters performed well and it was a good day for the team," Tahir said while talking about his and indeed Pune's performance against Mumbai.


When asked about his early impression of Dhoni and the conversations (if any) both had on the cricketing pitch, Tahir hailed the former Indian captain one of the nicest guys around.


"I have a lot of respect for MS Dhoni, not only because of what he has done for his country and himself, but also because he is one of the nicest guys around. I had a few conversations with him in the practice sessions, but I did not enjoy bowling to him since he hit me for a couple of sixes (laughs). He has been very helpful to me and his advise is something that I would keep taking. I’m pretty excited to play alongside Dhoni," said the 38-year-old South African.


After being unsold in the auction, Tahir was picked by the Pune franchise after Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was ruled out due to injury.


Reflecting on his dramatic inclusion few days before the start of the 2017 IPL season, Tahir said he is thankful to god for supporting him.


"I am really grateful to God and my family,especially my wife, for supporting me. I was quite low when I went unsold in the auction, but life goes on. I came here to prove myself again and my job is to perform whenever given an opportunity. Really pleased with my performance and looking forward to the upcoming challenges."