Dale Steyn Retires!
Proteas ace pacer Dale Steyn has announced retirement from all forms of cricket. He featured in 93 Tests (439 wickets), 125 ODIs (196 wickets) and 47 T20Is (64 wickets). Steyn played his last competitive match in March 2021, where he played for Quetta Gladiators against Multan Sultans in PSL. Steyn made the announcement on his twitter on Tuesday, 31 August 2021.
He tweeted a note on his social media handle:
“And it’s been a long December and there’s reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last.
I can’t remmber all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”
It’s been 20 years of training, matches, travel, wins, losses, strapped feet, jet lag, joy and brotherhood.
There are too many memories to tell. Too many faces to thank.
So I left it to the experts to sum up, my facorite band, the Counting Crows.
Today I officially retire from the game I love the most. Bitter sweet but grateful.
Thank You to every one, from family to teammates, journalists to fans, it’s been a incredible journey together.
Steyn played his first ever provincial match in October 2003 where he represented Northerns. He picked 618 First Class wickets at an average of 23.57 with the help of 35 five wicket hauls. He recorded a best of 8-41.
The proteas pacer made his List A debut in November 2004 where he represented his team Titans. Steyn bagged 284 List A wickets at an average of 24.61 with 6 five wicket hauls to his name. He has a prolific bowling average of 24.61 with a strike rate of 31.10.
Steyn made his Test debut in December 2004 at Port Elizabeth where he played against England and recorded figures of 2-117 & 1-29. The right arm pacer went on to pick 439 Test wickets, making him the most successful wicket taker in South African Test history.
He made his ODI debut in August 2005 when he represented Africa XI against Asia XI at Centurion. Steyn delivered bowling figures of 9.1 overs, 2 maidens, 40 runs and 1 wicket in that match. Ashish Nehra was his maiden wicket. He bowled Nehra out with Asia XI needing just 3 more runs to win and secured a 2 run win for Africa XI.
He first played for South Africa in a ODI against Australia at Docklands, Melbourne. He was quite expensive bowling five overs and going for 58 runs. His maiden wicket on Team debut for South Africa is Andrew Symonds. Steyn went on to pick 196 ODI wickets in 125 matches with a best of 6-39 to his name. He averaged 25.95 with the ball and recorded 3 five wicket hauls. He has a decent economy rate of 4.87 runs per over in modern day cricket.
Dale Willem Steyn played 47 T20 Internationals for South Africa and picked 64 wickets at an average of 18.35. He recorded 2 four wicket hauls with a best of 4-9 to his name. In T20 cricket he bagged 263 scalps at an average of 22.00 at an economy of 6.85 runs per over.
