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Dale Steyn’s experience will be key for propping up SA bowling attack at World T20
By his own lofty standards, some might consider Steyn’s record in limited overs in the sub-continent to be modest, but his experience will go a long way to helping the bowling attack click in the World T20.
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South Africa will begin their World T20 campaign against England on Friday and pace ace Dale Steyn is backing himself to make inroads, even on slow decks which tend to favour spin bowlers.
Steyn has never played a T20 international in India, he has played plenty of IPL matches. By his impeccable standards, you’d probably consider his record to be moderate. Steyn has taken 92 wickets in 89 IPL matches at an average of 24.88 and an economy rate of 6.71.
It puts him seventh on the all-time IPL wicket-takers list and the third-highest for fast bowlers in the competition. His economy rate is also the eighth best in the IPL overall and Steyn is all about the variations he plans on dishing up.
“I’ve always said that I can bowl on any track,” he said to the media in Mumbai on Wednesday. “I prefer the wickets that are slower and turning. The ball stops and makes it tough for batsmen to hit you out of the ground, especially at a ground like Nagpur which is a big ground.
“As a seamer I back myself,” he said. “ I can bowl fast cutters, it’s difficult to hit the ball out of the ground when it’s coming at 140 or 145 and it’s gripping and stopping. You don’t have to worry about running in and bowling the perfect yorker, you can bowl a back-of-a-length ball, one might bounce, one might stay low, it’s really tough batting in those conditions.”
Based on reputation alone, Dale Steyn’s presence is probably enough to leave anyone quivering in their boots, even if some might considering his limited overs record in the country to be “modest”.
Still, Steyn’s experience will go a long way in propping up the South African bowling attack. He has almost double the number of T20 caps (40) than Imran Tahir (23) and has played more T20s than Kyle Abbott (18) and Kagiso Rabada (13) combined), but the fast bowlers says this has not deterred the side’s confidence.
“When I walked into the side, I could see the guys were glowing with confidence. I realised how much these guys have grown as a team even in that two month gap that I had.”
South Africa begin their World T20 campaign against an England side which has already been beaten by the West Indies. Read the preview for the first fixture here.
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