Paul Harris

A tall renowned off-spinner, Paul Harris is a former South African cricketer who was born in Zimbabwe. The talented off-spinner was first spotted by Coach Duncan Fletcher at his high school and joined the provincial underage system, where he started playing with other age-group cricketers.

An astounding performance in the 2005-06 SuperSport series, where he chipped in with 49 wickets, made it difficult for the selectors to overlook his abilities. He then earned a Test cap and made his international debut against India in January 2007 after Claude Henderson’s unavailability for the Test. Harris marked his presence in world cricket in his debut Test where he claimed four wickets in the first innings which included the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. He also dismissed the Wall ‘Rahul Dravid’ in the second innings announcing his arrival on the international scene.

Harris’ finest performance in Test cricket came in the third Test against Australia during the 2008-09 home series where he scalped nine wickets helping his side win the contest by an innings and 20 runs. After debuting in the ODI series against Bangladesh, Harris didn’t manage to remain a regular member in the shorter formats as this was his first and last series.

Predominantly a red-ball player, Harris was named as one of South Africa’s Players of the Year for his outstanding performance in the year 2007 where he picked 29 wickets. In 2010, he saw a downfall in his career, and his depleting effectiveness with the ball saw the young leggie Imran Tahir replacing him in the Test side.

(As of April 2021)