Dale Steyn, one of the great fast bowlers of the modern era, on Monday announced his retirement from Test cricket in a bid to extend his longevity in the shorter forms of the game.
The 36-year-old left behind a glittering legacy with 439 wickets from 93 Tests, the highest tally by a South African. Steyn had gone past Shaun Pollock’s record earlier in the year and looked good for more. However, he suffered another injury blow that ruled him out of the World Cup. Without him, South Africa limped out of the competition, failing to reach the semi-finals.
Steyn has the most wickets by a bowler on Asian soil and has the best strike-rate by a bowler with over 200 wickets to his name. The pace ace was one of the pivotal figures behind Graeme Smith’s South Africa reaching the top of the Test rankings.
He picked up 31 wickets in Australia and also recorded his highest score (31). Once considered a visiting team’s nightmare, Steyn played a crucial part in South Africa’s Test series wins Down Under in 2008 and 2012. Not too many non-Asian bowlers have had a good run in the subcontinent. Whether it was a slow wicket in Galle or a dusty track in Ahmedabad, Steyn was peerless. Among pacers, Steyn is the fifth in the all-time standings.
Here are some of the key numbers from his remarkable career:
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