Spin bowlers, particularly left arm wrist spinners, are used to producing magic deliveries on the cricket pitch — but South African bowler Tabraiz Shamsi took things to a new level in a recent South African Super League T20 match.
In the match between Paarl Rocks and Durban Heat, Rocks bowler Shamsi had Wihan Lubbe comfortably caught at mid off by Hardus Viljoen.
The wicket was unremarkable, the celebration was anything but.
"Is the shoe coming off? No. Look at that! It's magic," the commentator said.
Shamsi, 29, reached into his pocket to produce a red handkerchief, before "magically" transforming it into a silver rod.
The left arm wrist spinner — who has played two Test matches, including one against Australia at Adelaide Oval in 2016 — took things to a new level with his unique celebration however, Shamsi is no stranger to unique celebrations.
When he is not conjuring rods from handkerchiefs, Shamsi's default celebration is to take off his shoe to make a phone call.
Shamsi, who has played 17 ODIs and 16 T20Is for South Africa, attempted a similar trick in last season's Super League competition, but rather failed to execute the trick.
This penchant for an exuberant celebration is no accident for Shamsi.
"When I realised I wasn't that good at cricket, I thought … I needed a back up plan," Shamsi said on The Dan Nicholl Show, on South African television last year.
"I actually wanted to be a magician," Shamsi added.
"It wasn't just a phase as a small child, probably up until to the age of 16, 17 and then the cricket sort of took over so I stopped practising."
His lack of practice is not showing as, Shamsi clearly rediscovered his talent for flamboyance.
However, despite Shamsi's bewitching celebration, the Durban Heat prevailed in the contest, winning by six wickets off the back of Englishman Alex Hales's 97 from 55 balls.
