Australia wary of Dale Steyn
Mar 4, 2016 at 10:18 PM
As Australia and South Africa commence their preparations for the ICC World T20, the spotlight will be on the returning Dale Steyn. Steyn in recent months had been out of action as injuries in groin, knee and shoulder had taken a toll on his illustrious career. However, Steyn is fit now and raring to go against Australia.
A day before the first T20I at Durban, Australian skipper Steve Smith acknowledged that tackling Steyn would be a priority for South Africa. “You’ve got to be nice and positive,” said Smith. “He generally bowls in the first six overs, and when there’s only two fielders out you’ve got to try and make the most of that.”
“T20 cricket is obviously all about going out there and being quite positive early,” Smith said. “We’ve certainly got the players that can hopefully get a few runs off him (Steyn),” Smith added.
Steyn recently, had also rubbished reports that his career was on the verge of declining. “Absolute rubbish – I played 48 Tests in a row, didn’t miss a single one and, now suddenly, I’m an injury liability at the age of 32? “It’s ridiculous.
Injuries can happen to anybody but I’m still one of the fittest players in the squad and I have many, many overs left in me,” an enraged Steyn said.
“A hungry Dale Steyn is the reason why we were thinking of selecting him for this World Cup,” South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said before the match. “Dale, when he’s like that in that space, he’ll be consistently proving to everyone that he’s the best bowler in the world. “It’s great to see him hungry.”