Thank you, Dale Steyn
Thank you, Dale Steyn. That's all we can say after learning about the news of him calling time on his decorated career.
Because... what else do you tell a guy who made us question whether that speed gun was joking?
What do you tell a guy who didn't know anything else other than bowling scary fast?
What do you say to a lean, mean machine who could chirp away at the batsmen and then knock them over before they knew what hit them?
What do you tell a speedster who suffered some carnage at the hands of AB de Villiers in the IPL, and yet smiled out of quiet satisfaction that he had met his match? (Don't worry KP, you're part of this too!)
What do you tell a man who, in the midst of a spell from hell, can make your hair stand out of wretched fear and make you pray to be lucky, just a wee bit lucky, to not let the stumps walk?
One last question: what do you tell a guy who has been a versatile, outstanding all-time great?
For now, it's just thank you.
In 2016, ESPNcricinfo's Nagraj Gollapudi sat down for a candid chat with Dale Steyn. When asked what makes a fast bowler, Steyn's answer was simple and accurate - Pace.
His complete answer to that question:
"Pace. In the old days that was the main thing. You could bowl any way you wanted to, but if you had raw pace, you were seen as a menacing fast bowler. But the equation is no more the same. The way guys bat these days - reverse-lap a fast bowler's delivery at 150kph. Even players you have never heard before will just go "tuk" and lap you for a six. So pace is no longer just enough. It needs to be controlled pace. You need to know where you want to bowl. If you bowl a bad ball, the attitude of the batsman is: "I'm going to smoke you." Doesn't matter who you are."
Yet, before age crept up, Steyn smoked the batsmen. And boy, oh boy, did he have a blast while at it!
When Steyn was on a roll, the pitch, with cracks or one that looked like crusty bread, didn't matter. He would find a way to get past your bat, or rap your pad, or nick you off. And most importantly, he'd do it by getting in your head.
There's another excerpt from that same interview where he acknowledged the difference between a good fast bowler and a great one.
"Only when you retire (lets out a big laugh). But while you are playing, one day you can be great and next day you can be absolute shit. Fast bowling is a battle. I have run in and bowled a heap of poo sometimes and the guy has hit it straight to cover. At other times I have bowled the spell of my life and I just can't find the edge."
The point we're trying to make is that we're figuring out a way to say thank you and pay tribute to the man who is among the finest quicks to ever have played the sport.
Oh, and on that note, thank you for teaching simplicity.
Another attempt at 'Thank you, Dale Steyn'
2008. Dale Steyn was snapped up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL. The inaugural season saw the side become a laughing stock. The squad was more suited to play Tests than the ultra-short blitzkrieg version of the game.
Steyn had ten wickets in a season that saw RCB finish seventh. The following season saw the side go through a string of changes. Steyn was bowling in his own backyard with the IPL moving to South Africa, except he was out for a major part of the tournament and played just three games. RCB finished second.
The following year was his best in the IPL before he one-upped it in 2013. Steyn was integral in RCB's third-place finish, bagging 15 wickets at an economy of 6.88 and an average of 27.06.
All of these spells, irrespective of the final outcome, had Bangalore fans cheering, whooping and chanting when he loaded up at the M. Chinnaswamy.
Going off-track for a bit. When Steyn posted a vague story on Instagram in 2019 saying he was joining the RCB ranks, there was a sense of exhiliration, creating a memory that's been etched in this writer's mind since 2010. So clear were the words that he posted a welcome back status.
It wasn't the comeback RCB hoped for, but in his limited stint with the team, Dale Steyn did the damage, especially against the Chennai Super Kings in 2019 with a 2/29 spell that saw RCB pull off a one-run win.
That's T20. Let's not get into his Test exploits, but here's what he did in 2008 to produce an unforgettable performance with a 10-wicket haul to seal a famous series win against Australia at the MCG (Video courtesy: cricket.com.au)
So, in all, we don't know whether this fan-boying is enough of a tribute. Because at the end of the day, when we look back at what Dale Steyn gave cricket, it was more than just teaching bowlers to be eerily fast, it was memories. Good ol' ones.
On that note, thank you, Dale Steyn.