Overview
Hamza Tahir (born 9 November 1995) is a former Scottish cricketer. Born in Paisley to Pakistani parents, he represented Scotland across all three international formats during his career.
Tahir made his Twenty20 International debut for Scotland against Pakistan on 12 June 2018. He made his List A debut against Oman on 20 February 2019, following the 2018–19 Oman Quadrangular Series. In June 2019, he was selected to represent Scotland A on a tour to Ireland to play the Ireland Wolves. The following month, he was named to play for the Glasgow Giants in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam, although the tournament was subsequently cancelled, reportedly after the organisers ran into financial difficulties.
He was part of Scotland's One Day International squad for the 2019 Scotland Tri-Nation Series, making his ODI debut against Papua New Guinea on 17 August 2019. In his next match, against Oman, he took his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket. In September 2019, he was named in Scotland's squad for the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament held in the United Arab Emirates. In September 2021, Tahir was included in Scotland's provisional squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
In June 2024, Tahir announced his retirement from professional cricket at the age of 28, after being dismissed from the Scotland national team. He cited racism as the reason for his retirement and indicated that he would consider legal action against Cricket Scotland. A spokesperson for Cricket Scotland described him as a "tremendous servant to the Scotland men's national team."
References
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on Hamza Tahir.