Dale Steyn: Revisiting a modern day legend's career through pictures
A gemstone unearthed from South Africa’s endless quarry of fast bowlers, Dale Willem Steyn took the legacy of Allan Donald and Makhaya Ntini higher, way higher, to towering heights as he ruled fast bowling throughout the decade gone by.
Steyn’s USP lies in is his ability to swing his deliveries prodigiously at a breathtaking pace, getting movement from both the red and white ball during his golden period from 2008-2014, where he remained the undisputed No.1 Test bowler in the world.
Here’s recalling his career through pictures:
2004 – An indifferent start
Debuting in the same Test as AB de Villiers, Steyn’s first victim was Marcus Trescothick, slipping an inswinger through the gates to start a trend that unfolded over the next decade. However, he couldn’t feast on the flying start, turning erratic as the series progressed and was eventually dropped from the side.
His next break came only in 2006, against New Zealand, where he picked up a five-wicket haul in the second Test of the series to re-impose the management’s faith in him. He started to feature regularly thereon, at least in the Test side.
He made his ODI debut in the Afro-Asia Cup in 2005, and first donned the national team’s colours in January the subsequent year. His ODI appearances in the initial period weren’t too many, and he was looked at primarily as a red-ball specialist. To validate the fact, his first 10 ODIs were spread across two and a half years.