Du Plessis hails Tahir strike power

South Africa's Imran Tahir is best known to Australian cricket fans as the man who finished with match figures of 0-260 in the Adelaide Oval Test 16 months ago.

The ineffective legspinner set a new mark for the worst Test figures ever and was subjected to much ridicule - especially when he celebrated the dismissal of Ed Cowan only for replays to show it was a no-ball.

Robin Peterson was preferred to Tahir in the recent Test series, but the Pakistan-born tweaker is in the Proteas' squad for the ongoing Twenty20 series against Australia.

Some may suggest it's a recipe for carnage given Australia's hard-hitting batsmen, but Tahir has a big fan in captain Faf du Plessis.

"Imi is very important to me. He's as big a strike bowler as Dale Steyn is to our team," du Plessis said on the eve of the sides' clash in Durban.

"The success of Imran Tahir in the T20 World Cup is going to hugely determine how well we do.

"I know conditions (in Durban) probably don't suit him – it's wet, raining and the ball will be a bit slippery.

"But it doesn't matter how well or how badly he bowls here, it won't change how important he is for us in Bangladesh."

Du Plessis suggested he would given Tahir a licence to throw the ball up, no matter what the consequences are.

"I understand he's a game changer and I understand what comes with that," he said.

"Imran is never a guy that needs to keep the run-rate down for you, he's a wicket-taker and I understand that.

"He's done fantastically for us in the last 12 months."