$12,000,000
Dale Steyn
Net Worth
Born in (City)
Phalaborwa
Born in (Country)
South Africa
Date of Birth
27th December, 1983
Date of Death
-
Mother
Father
Willem Steyn
About
Steyn grew up in the small town of Phalaborwa in South Africa. He made his first-class debut in 2003 but made a little impact in his first season. But his strong performances in the next season during 2004/2005 earned him a spot to play England. Even though his initial outing in County Championship cricket failed to make an impact with only 14 wickets, he returned to domestic cricket in South Africa. With his bowling performances for the Titans through the 2005/2006 season, he was recalled to the Test squad to face New Zealand. He seized the opportunity and became a regular part of the test squad and hadn't played much of domestic cricket later.
After being recalled into the test team to play New Zealand, Steyn impressed with his performances. He grabbed the opportunity and along with the support of Makhaya Ntini, he ripped through the New Zealand batting line-up, picking up his first five-wicket haul on the way. He finished the three-Test series with 16 wickets at 26.00. And these performances made him a regular test team player.
Early Life
He was lethal on any track on a given day and has the ability to turn the match over its head. As Zak (Zaheer Khan) opined, he was by far the best bowler of this generation. He didn't want to alter his action to learn the in-swingers so that he doesn't lose his shape of the outswingers which troubled the best of batsmen all around the world. A man who created and invented his own space on a cricket ground. A man who the South Africans have turned to every time when they're out of hope and he produced. His celebration of punching into the ground just the same way how he hits the deck so hard shows his extreme passion and total determination on the cricket field. As Faf said, he lifted the spirits of the whole team with his celebrations. He had been the leader of the pack for South Africa for so many years.
For a fast bowler to dominate the number 1 position for so long is unheard of. Steyn stood on top for 263 weeks between 2008 and 2014. The next to him is none other than the Sri Lankan great Muralidharan with 214 weeks. Steyn ended his test career as the highest test-wicket taker for South Africa which was on the name of Shaun Pollock earlier. For someone growing up idolizing Shaun Pollock, it is an absolutely amazing career.
Road to Success
By 2007, Steyn had become an integral part of the South African test team, with his third five-wicket haul against Pakistan in October and two back-to-back five-wicket hauls, and his first ten-wicket haul against New Zealand in November cemented his position. This performance earned him his first Test man of the match award. This devastating form continued into the second Test at Centurion where he picked his sixth five-wicket haul (6/49) helping SA to victory by an innings and 59 runs. His second ten-wicket haul earned him his second Man-of-the-Match award in a row and his series performance of 20 wickets won him his first Man-of-the-Series award. On the back of his performance, he broke into the top five of the ICC rankings for Test bowlers for the first time in his career.
His consecutive man of the series award came against West Indies for his performance of 20 wickets at an average of 19 in a three-test series. And he received yet another man of the series award consecutively for the third time in a row against Bangladesh in a two-match test series visiting Bangladesh. He became the fastest to get to 100 wickets in tests for South Africa in a record 20 matches. The impeccable performances of an outstanding 2007/08 season in which he took 75 wickets in 11 matches helped Steyn moved up to the joint first place (alongside Muttiah Muralitharan) in the ICC Test match bowling rankings.
Challenges
“In the past times that I have played here, I have bowled against guys like Virender Sehwag, that guy was a nightmare. He scored 300 in Chennai and if you missed him by a small margin, he would smoke you out,” Sehwag and Steyn have had some fascinating contests in the past, where both have been equally aggressive. Sehwag was probably among the few batsmen to have dominated the best fast bowler of the modern era. Acknowledging that, Steyn recently admitted that Sehwag was the only batsman, who was his nightmare.
While James Anderson questioned him quite a few times with his innate skills of swing bowling, his away record didn't seem to be as impressive as Steyn's. And Steyn tops all his generation bowlers with the mind-boggling bowling average of 22.5. While Mitchell Johnson had pace, he wasn't as lethal as Steyn when he was down a bit. According to the opinion of the batsmen around the world, even when Steyn was down a bit with his pace, he always compensated with either swing or the set-ups. Steyn is arguably considered the best of his era.
With the nickname, "Steyn Gun", he is the fiercest bowler South Africa has ever produced. He was the ICC test player of the year for 2008 and has been part of the test team of the years 2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2016. That had been his dominance in test cricket and there was no looking beyond him. Wisden leading cricketer of the year 2013 and Wisden Cricketer of the year 2014.
Failures
With his fast arm movement and his fierce celebration, Steyn had some shoulder injuries. It is close to an impossible task for a fast bowler to stay on top, to perform all the time without being prone to injuries but Dale was the man of the hour and he always delivered. He came back strongly after every injury and given his all for his team. He was ruled out of the away Test series against Australia in 2016–17 after he broke his right shoulder bone in the first Test in Perth. In 2017, after 14 months of injury, Steyn played his first international Test match against India and picked up a wicket in just 14 balls. However, on day two of the same Test, Steyn was ruled out of the rest of the series after he damaged his left heel. This ruled him out of the rest of the series, with a recovery time of 4 to 6 weeks.
Achievements
ICC Player of the Year Award (Test) 2008|ICC Test Team of the Year: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016|ICC ODI Team of the Year: 2011, 2014|Wisden Cricketer of the Year: 2014|Wisden Leading Cricketer: 2013
Quotes
- I don't think age matters. In cricket, if you have the skill, you can go on playing.
- In a World Cup you don't have anywhere to hide.