Dale Steyn: The Ace Of Pace

Dale Steyn is only 32. But it seems like the South African has been around for ages, bowling fast and fast. Except for a groin injury followed by a broken shoulder late last year, his career has rarely been plagued by injuries. Eighty two Tests (“including 48 in a row”, Steyn reminds you) since his debut in December 2004 for 406 wickets (second most by a South African) and still bowling fast is a tribute to the way he has managed himself over the years.

The fiery fast bowler admits he’s not Superman. Ask him how he has managed to remain injury-free and Steyn said here on Wednesday after having a good bowl in the nets followed by some big hitting in the nets: “Yeah, I have been able to play without any injuries. Unfortunately I had these two injuries now and it takes weeks, that’s just the body. Anybody gets injured, Grade 1 strain or whatever it is, they (players) need three-four weeks. I am no different. I am not Superman.

“I have just been very lucky that I have not had those kinds of injuries. And our (team) management has been really good to me. I have not been really pushed to do anything more than my body requires me to do.  I have played only a handful of ODIs, just over 110 (112 to be precise). Someone like Brett Lee played over 200, I think, at this stage of his career. I have been really handled very well, managed well by my managers, and myself too.

I have been making good decisions. Sometimes, it plays against me, pulling out of series. But I am still here, I am still playing, I am still bowling at the same speed I have bowled throughout my career. I am still landing the ball in the same place. I guess it is working.”

Steyn doesn’t like when you mention his age and if he was slowing down with it. “No, I don’t think I am slowing down. I spoke to Pravin Tambe (Mumbai leg-spinner of Rajasthan Royals fame) on Tuesday (when SA played Mumbai CA in warm-up game) and he is 44 years old. Come on, age is just a number. It doesn’t really matter. I have watched Brett Lee bowl 145 kmph-150 kmph at 38. Maan, it is a number. I can do whatever I want to do as long as I am fit and strong,” said South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 57 sticks in 40 games.

Steyn is immensely popular in India and has had tremendous success here when fast bowlers from outside the sub-continent dread bowling in these conditions. But Steyn loves bowling here in these conditions, more than the fast bouncy pitches. He has taken 26 wickets including two five-wicket hauls in India, 23 scalps in 13 ODIs at an average of 25.60. More importantly, he has taken 90 wickets in 86 IPL matches in India from 2008 till last year.

KEY TO SUCCESS IN INDIA

Asked what the key for fast bowlers to succeed in India was, Steyn’s eyes lit up before saying: “I have enjoyed bowling more in Indian conditions that anywhere else. A lot of people say you can succeed as a fast bowler on fast, bouncy tracks. But it is not necessarily so. For instance, in Perth, if a batsman misses the ball and is hit on the pads in front of the wickets, the umpire more or less says not out as it’s going above the stumps. That is why Morne Morkel, for his height, rarely gets LBW or bowled there. Similarly in South Africa, I am only looking at getting edges or a batsman dragging on (to the stumps) as LBW is taken out of equation.

“In India, the ball doesn't bounce much, keeps low at times, so it brings all dismissals into play. I can get a nick off the bat, also try and get a batsman leg before knowing that the decision will go my way. I can also try out all the variations including reverse swing, a short ball may keep low, another may rise above the shoulder, bringing the top-edge into play. That's why as a fast bowler, I have enjoyed bowling in India. And like I have always said, if you are a fast bowler bowling a yorker at 145 kmph in India or elsewhere, it will fetch you a wicket anyway. A fast ball is a fast ball, the pitch doesn't come into play.”

For all his years of international experience and playing IPL in India, Steyn is yet to play a T20I in India. The ICC World T20 game against England on Friday at the Wankhede will be his first on Indian soil. And he is all fired up, as always.

Asked if the workload is less in T20s compared to the other formats, Steyn said: “It all depends on what you are thinking about — physically, mentally or emotionally. T20 could be mentally hard on a bowler. You have only four overs. If you get an edge, it could go for four runs which is not your fault. In Test matches, you have five days to make up for it. It’s slightly easier on the body but much harder on the mind.”

Steyn showered praise on his bowling partner Kagiso Rabada, who has already made an impression in his first international season. “He is fantastic. He is really quick, he is unpredictable. I don’t think many teams have played against him yet. There is not much they can plan. They kind of perceive what he can do. He is surprising to us too. I will be there standing at fine-leg thinking he is going to bowl a bouncer and he comes up with a beautiful yorker.  He has got a gut feeling for himself and that is his biggest strength. People don’t know what he is going to deliver. He is quick, he executes his skills but they don’t quite know what he is going to do yet which is his strength,” said Steyn.

GOOD PREPARATION

Steyn is making his fifth ICC World T20 appearance after missing the inaugural edition in his home country in 2007. “I’m feeling strong and fine and it’s great to be playing again. I played against Australia (2 T20s) and played the two warm-up games, so (the preparation) has been good.”

The fact that South Africa have never won a major ICC tournament “doesn’t give us any pressure at all,” Steyn said. ‘We have been a powerhouse team and it’s disappointing for fans that we haven’t won one. We would like to win one. Every tournament we go to, we go there as well prepared as we possibly can be. We have got some of the best players in the world, if not the best in the world. T20 is a strange game. I think anybody in the top-7 teams can win it. We have seen Netherlands beat England in the past, they almost beat us in the last World T20. This is a format where anybody can win it. But I think the teams that generally have done it in the past, go on to win the tougher stages, especially the knock-out rounds.”

Steyn complimented New Zealand’s spinners for their sensational win in the ICC World T20 opener against India in Nagpur on Tuesday night. “I’ve always known I can bowl on any surface. I prefer wickets that are slow and turning and where the ball stops. It makes it tougher for batsmen to hit you out of the ground. I think New Zealand’s thinking was correct. It paid off for them playing with three spinners (Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi). We know what our strengths are. As a seamer I back myself to bowl the fast-cutters, it’s really difficult to hit the ball out of the ground when it is comes over 140 kmph. It’s gripping and stopping. You don’t have to worry about running in and bowling a yorker, you could bowl a back of a length ball. One might bounce and skid, one might stay low. It’s hard to bat on such tracks sometimes.”

New Zealand, it was, who dashed South Africa’s hopes of reaching the ICC Cricket World Cup final last year when Grant Elliott whacked Steyn for a six to score the winning runs in Auckland. 

How much does he think about that? Steyn said: “It’s a pity that everyone thinks about that ball. I like to think about what happened after that ball where he came and picked me up. That was a better moment. We had many opportunities to win that game, unfortunately that was the moment they won that game. It all doesn’t boil down to that moment, there are a lot chances we missed leading up to it.”

MOMENTUM WITH SA

South Africa come here on the back of a come-from-behind 3-2 win over England in ODIs and a closely-fought 1-2 series loss to Australia. Steyn the team is in good space going into the World T20.

“It is fantastic because I was not playing in the ODIs and when I walked into the side (for T20s) when we were playing against Australia, I could see the guys were glowing in with confidence. I was watching guys normally sitting in the sidelines like Kyle Abbott coming in, landing his yorkers, landing his slower balls and just oozing in confidence. It was great to be out of the side because when I walked back in the side, I just realised how much I missed it. And, I realised how much these guys have grown as a team even in the two months that I was away.

“Momentum is most definitely on our side as you can see in the two warm-up matches, we beat India and Mumbai CA. I know they were not real games. Guys retired, Dhoni comes in, and we were playing more bowlers. But we just managed to win. And the other day (on Tuesday), watching our guys bat and chase down 230, I know the score was 180 but we changed it, that does put a lot of confidence in the side.

Finally, Steyn asked kids seeking his advice to be a fast bowler to just “do it”. “I tell him to do it. I made a career out of it. And you are rock star at the end of the day. I can bat, I can slog 30, I promise you that. But not everybody can run in and bowl 145kmph-150kmph. If he can do it, he must do it.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Dale Steyn, South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is and a regular in IPL since its inception, is yet to play a T20I in India.