“Rather than
Speed, than Swing, than bounce, give me proper line and length”. This is what
an every fast bowler asks for. One fast bowler who hails from Phalaborwa, South
Africa has all these aspects imbibed in his bowling. Of course, he is now the
spear head of South Africa’s bowling attack- Dale Willem Steyn. South Africa’s
love affair with pace bowling started way back in 1950’s with the inclusion of
Neil Adcock, who is considered to be one of the all time best fast bowler South
Africa has ever produced. Legacy of South Africa’s bowling continued with Fanie
De Villers, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollack, Makhaya Ntini and the rest. With the
retirement of aforementioned players, the future of pace attack of the South
Africans did not look promising and secure. Then came a 21 year young lad, who
took up the herculean task of leading the pace attack of Africans. He, in the
initial stages was well guided by Pollock and Ntini.
Aggression
and intensity-these are what defines Steyn. What makes him a ferocious bowler, are
his toe-cruising Yorkers, breath taking bouncers and unplayable out swingers.
His exploits with the red cherry in the test cricket seems to be larger than
life. His unfeigned efforts and unswerving determination on the field depicts
how much love he has for the game. Steyn’s impeccable speed with acumen of line
and length makes him tough to face. He received plaudits for breaking the
partnerships at the most crucial moments. If u consider a set A with Steyn as
an element in it and set B for breaking the partnerships, nine out of ten times
you end up saying ”Oh! B is a subset of A.” That’s how his game is. The problem
with being among the best is you are forced to be compared with the best
always. James Anderson, Mitchell Johnson and Lasith Malinga may be the best
among the era of Dale Steyn. But Dale Steyn transcends era.
Cricketing
minds and fans often cudgel their brains, as to why some people don’t consider
Steyn as one of the all time great bowlers cricket has ever witnessed. The only
reason one could think of is, the people who does not consider him like that
might be living in a parallel universe. More over to put in the words of Harsha
Bhoghle, “It is human nature to underrate the present and grossly overrate the
past, but if you outlaw that trait, the time has come to put Steyn among one of
the all time great fast bowlers.” But as like all stalwarts are, even Steyn
does not give a damn to what the rest of the world thinks about him. Give him
the ball, give him the opponents, give him a pitch irrespective of its type (flat
track or bowling paradise), he will give his 100% and entertain you. His
bowling stats always do the talking, but sometimes he also does. He smiles like
an innocent child when someone counter attacks his bowling but will fall like a
thunderbolt when his time to take the revenge arrives.
Statistics:
Matches |
Matches
|
Balls
|
Runs
|
Wickets
|
Best
|
Avg
|
Eco
|
s/r
|
5w in an inn
|
ODI
|
82
|
4,028
|
3,248
|
125
|
6-39
|
25.98
|
4.86
|
32.22
|
3
|
Tests
|
73
|
15,261
|
8,333
|
362
|
7-51
|
23.02
|
3.29
|
42.16
|
22
|
Twenty20
|
38
|
817
|
879
|
55
|
4-9
|
15.98
|
6.46
|
14.85
|
-
|
IPL
|
83
|
1932
|
2119
|
89
|
-
|
23.81
|
6.60
|
21.71
|
-
|
Hopefully, he can
deliver much more thrilling performances for his team and we can have the
luxury of sitting back and watching his adroitness with the cricket ball. All the
best, Dale!
-HEMANTH
VIHARI.K
Statistics:
Matches |
Matches
|
Balls
|
Runs
|
Wickets
|
Best
|
Avg
|
Eco
|
s/r
|
5w in an inn
|
ODI
|
82
|
4,028
|
3,248
|
125
|
6-39
|
25.98
|
4.86
|
32.22
|
3
|
Tests
|
73
|
15,261
|
8,333
|
362
|
7-51
|
23.02
|
3.29
|
42.16
|
22
|
Twenty20
|
38
|
817
|
879
|
55
|
4-9
|
15.98
|
6.46
|
14.85
|
-
|
IPL
|
83
|
1932
|
2119
|
89
|
-
|
23.81
|
6.60
|
21.71
|
-
|
