The word “Great” absolutely suits Dale Steyn

The retirement of one of the greatest pacers on the planet, Dale Steyn, has brought in a large number of reactions and good wishes for the South African pacer. Steyn announced today on his Twitter account that he has decided to “hang the boots”.

Jimmy Anderson replied to this tweet of Steyn simply by calling him “The Beast”. Such a compliment coming from a bowler who has the most number of wickets to his name as a pacer, just speaks volumes of the impact Steyn had in the cricketing world.

Michael Vaughan jokingly said in an interview, “I could make a garden shade out of the off-stumps Steyn walked out of the ground when I was batting.” Steyn would leave many batsmen confused whether to play him on the front foot or back. The skiddy bouncer that he bowled troubled every batsman to have ever faced him. Steyn never looked nervous on the cricket field, always confident and running in hard to bowl each and every delivery.

What made Steyn special

One of the reasons South Africa was brilliant at winning away test series at a time when no other team could be Steyn. Steyn played alongside legendary teammates like Amla, Kallis, AB De Villiers, Boucher, and Smith. He was also a consistent performer across all the formats. The 38-year-old would often get rid of the top-order batsmen. He always would wrap up the game fast once the tailender batsmen were on the crease.

He led the South African bowling attack brilliantly. Setting the tone of the test match regularly for a long period of time is probably Steyn’s biggest contribution to his national side.

Injuries holding him back

After he turned 30, Steyn’s injury-free run ended. He suffered a groin strain in the Champions Trophy in June 2013, a side strain later that year, and a rib fracture in early 2014, a year in which he had three hamstrings strains but also played a part in South Africa’s first Test series win in Sri Lanka in over two decades.

ABD vs Dale Steyn in IPL

One of the greatest contests of cricket was ABD vs Dale Steyn. Since these two South African cricketers were teammates, no one got to watch the competition between them until the IPL. People were blessed to witness the battle of the fierce pacer Steyn and the innovative batsman ABD. It can’t be stated that who of the two won the most times. However, it might be true that ABD had the “last laugh”.

Phenomenal Stats