Dale Steyn, a generational cricketer, created history on this day as he became the leading wicket taker for South Africa in test cricket when he surpassed Shaun Pollock’s wickets tally. He achieved this feat in the boxing day test at Centurion against Pakistan with a dismissal of Fakhar Zaman to pick up his 422nd wicket in test cricket.
It was a long journey to reach this milestone and Dale Steyn endured a lot of tribulations of test cricket. The tear-away fast bowler witnessed numerous highs and lows to emerge as arguably the greatest fast bower that South Africa has ever produced. Steyn played his first test match in 2004 against England and after 14 years of consistent wicket-taking form, he reached the summit to dethrone another South African legend, Shaun Pollock.
A glance at an exemplary career
Dale Steyn is one of the very rare players who has not played 100 test matches in his career but achieved a legendary stature. Well, it is often said that quality matters, not quantity, and Dale Steyn is the perfect personification of this saying. Throughout his 14-year-long career, the fast bowler played 93 test matches picking up 439 wickets at an incredible average of 22.95. In that process, Steyn accumulated 26 five-wicket hauls as well which speaks volumes about this cricketer. Apart from being lethal in his home conditions in South Africa, the pacer was outstanding in away conditions as well. He was consistently valuable for South Africa on difficult tours of Australia and England.
It is never easy for a fast bowler to pick up wickets in subcontinent conditions where pitches play slow and low but Steyn was an exception. He excelled in subcontinent conditions against strong batting units of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The great South African fast bowler will always have a special mention whenever elite fast bowlers are discussed.