Dale Steyn - Pace on his mind, fire in his belly

Where were you? Where were you when Dale Steyn returned in RCB colors, in front of a roaring Chinnaswamy, and ripped apart the Chennai Superkings top order in a fiery spell? Where were you when a full in-swinging yorker shattered Suresh Raina’s stumps, and Dale Steyn ran over to the skipper Virat Kohli and embraced him in ecstasy? It was a magical sight to witness Dale Steyn in full tilt, swinging the new ball in an RCB jersey after 9 long years.

Dale Steyn was always quick. A fiery, young Protean breaking through the ranks, smashing the stumps and scaring the batsmen, his only aim. As the man himself disclosed on The pitchside Podcast, Steyn’s solitary goal was to bowl, and bowl quick. “Pace came naturally to me since I was a kid. I liked speed in everything I did. Jonty Rhodes was a big inspiration to me and he was so quick on the field. When I got introduced to cricket, my default mode was to get the ball from one end to the other as quickly as possible. That was even before I had heard of fast bowling greats like Allan Donald,” said Steyn.

Club cricket felt a bit below his standards for Steyn, as he found out hat he was “bowling faster than people twice my age”.  In 2004, former RCB coach Ray Jennings discovered the raw ability of Steyn, and decided to blood the rookie of only 7 first-class matches into the South African Test team. His Test debut as a raw 21-year old pace sensation might not have quite gone the way, but soon Dale Steyn would find his feet in international cricket.

Be it the pacer-friendly conditions in his home, South Africa, or the burning sub-continent heat combined with slow and low pitches, Dale Steyn has constantly managed to stay relevant and equally effective irrespective of the playing conditions. India, one of the most formidable batting units, especially at home crumbled on Day 1 of the Test at Ahmedabad in 2008. Steyn would be instrumental in dismissing the dangerous duo of Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid - both of whom had put together a partnership of 268 in the previous Test match in Chennai, Sehwag scoring a tripe century. But, in Ahmedabad, Steyn would have different ideas. His fiery spell on Day 1 would knock over the Indian batting line-up for only 76 on the opening day of the Test match.

That very year, the ICC would go on to recognize Steyn’s contribution to world cricket and honor him with the ICC Test Player of the Year award. Soon, as the IPL auctions came calling, RCB were the first team Steyn would represent. The three years he spent with RCB would see the pace spearhead take 27 wickets. He would go on to play for different franchises over the years, but in 2019 when the Protean maestro finally made his comeback, the feeling was nothing short of euphoria.

An international career of a decade for a fast bowler has its effects on the human body, and Steyn would not be able to escape its effects either. Constant injuries and niggles would eventually force him to retire from Test cricket after 15 glorious years filled with moments of brilliance. When he did, his final wickets count in international cricket would read 635 wickets from 93 Test matches and 125 ODIs. There is no greater sight in cricket than watching a fast bowler like Dale Steyn with his gracious run-up, fiery pace, intense look on his face, and the helpless look on a batsman’s face when the ball passes the bat without giving them a clue. When Dale Steyn returns for the 2020 season of the Dream 11 IPL, RCB fans will have much to cheer, one would hope.