South African pacer Dale Steyn announced his retirement from all formats of the game with immediate effect bringing down curtains on his illustrious career. He took to Twitter to announce his decision to the cricketing fraternity and his fans. To increase his opportunities in the limited-overs cricket, Steyn retired from Tests in August 2019! However, Cricket is going to miss one of its great players in this generation with this "Announcement".
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| Image Credits: Getty Images |
Dale Steyn made his international debut in the year 2004 with a home Test match against England at Port Elizabeth. Since then, he has featured in 265 games for South Africa till now - 93 Tests, 125 ODIs, 47 T20Is. Overall, Steyn picked up 697 wickets across all the formats combined at an average of 23.37 and a strike rate of 37. These are extraordinary figures for a player who has served the game for a period of close to 16 years!
Besides representing the franchises in South Africa, Steyn has travelled all over the world to feature in various leagues including the IPL in India and Big Bash in Australia. Steyn, though missed out on a central contract in 2020, was expected to play in World T20 in 2020 but the pandemic had other ideas! The unfortunate times in which we live also had its say on Steyn's announcement!
Announcement. pic.twitter.com/ZvOoeFkp8w
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) August 31, 2021
"It's been 20 years of training, matches, travel, wins, losses, strapped feet, jet lag, joy, and brotherhood. There are too many memories to tell. Too many faces to thank. Today I officially retire from the game I love the most. Bittersweet but grateful. Thank you to everyone, from family to teammates, journalists to fans, it's been an incredible journey together," stated Dale Steyn in a statement released via his official Twitter handle.
For the record, Dale Steyn is currently the leading wicket-taker for South Africa in Tests with 439 wickets. He surpassed Shaun Pollock (421 wickets) to take this record in December 2018 with the wicket of Fakhar Zaman at the SuperSport Park in Centurion!
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