Dale Steyn Quits All Forms of Cricket

Dale Steyn Retirement

Months and years away from the game because of injuries led us to often thinking about when this legendary speedster will decide to hang up his boots. However, Dale Steyn has always been a fighter and he kept making comebacks, to both the international circuit as well as to franchise cricket (the latter in more recent years).

Today however, is not a day for making a comeback but a sad day for pace bowling enthusiasts and South African cricket fans as Steyn has decided to hang up his boots, retiring from all forms of the game. Now 38 years old, you wouldn’t usually see pacers last till this age but Steyn has always held high standards when it came to his fitness.

He took to his social media accounts a few minutes ago with a caption reading, “Announcement” and a note attached to the post. His retirement post brought to an end a 17-year career, which included playing for several franchises along with featuring in 93 Tests, 125 ODIs and 47 T20Is for the Proteas. He is and probably always will be the most loved pacer from South Africa!

“And it’s been a long December and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than last. I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass. It’s been 20 years since training, matches, travel, wins, losses, strapped feet, jetlag, joy, and brotherhood. There are too many memories to tell. Too many faces to thank. So I left it to the experts to sum up, my favourite band, the Counting Crows,” he said as a part of his retirement statement.

The former RCB pacer holds the record for being at the top of the ICC Test Rankings for the top bowler for the most number of days. When he took over in 2009, he didn’t give away the top spot for 4 years and then reclaimed it again in 2014. However, injuries plagued his career and he ended with 439 Test wickets for South Africa!