Dale Steyn

Dale Willem Steyn (born 27 June 1983) is a South African former professional cricketer who played for the South African cricket team.

He is regarded by many as the greatest bowler of the Modern Era.

Steyn was born in 1983 in the small town of Phalaborwa, on the border of the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

His family is from Zimbabwe.

Steyn made his first-class debut for Northerns (subsequently merged with Easterns to form the Titans) on 17 October 2003.

He only played two first-class games and made little impact in his first season, but a series of strong performances in the initial part of the 2004/05 season saw him called up to the Test squad to play England.

He went back to playing for the Titans after failing to impress in his first three Tests.

Steyn went to England in 2005 to play for Essex, appearing in seven matches between May and June.

He failed to make a big impact in his initial outing in County Championship cricket, taking 14 wickets at 59.85.

Following his work at Essex with world expert bowling coach Ian Pont Steyn returned to domestic cricket in South Africa, where he bowled excellently for the Titans through the 2005/2006 season which earned him a recall to the Test squad to face New Zealand.

As a result of becoming a regular selection for the national team, Steyn subsequently played little domestic cricket in South Africa from then onwards, appearing for the Titans in just five SuperSport Series matches after the end of the 2005/06 season.

During the 2007–08 season, Steyn achieved a tally of 78 wickets at an average of 16.24, and was subsequently rewarded with the ICC 2008 Test Cricketer of the Year Award.

He had a second stint in England, playing for Warwickshire in the first half of the 2007 English season.

This time around he had more success, claiming 23 County Championship wickets in seven matches at an average of 25.86.

He also played well in the Friends Provident Trophy, a 50-over tournament, finishing as the leading wicket-taker for Warwickshire.

He has since become a regular in the South African One Day International team.

Steyn dominated the number one spot in the ICC Test rankings at the peak of his career, for a record 263 weeks between 2008 and 2014.

Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan sits next on the list with 214 weeks.

Steyn signed to play in the Indian Premier League in 2008, playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

He earned US$325,000 for his appearance in the tournament.

He spent his first three seasons in the Indian Premier League with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

For IPL 2011 he was bought by Deccan Chargers for $1.2 million.

After Deccan Chargers were terminated from the IPL he was drafted to Sunrisers Hyderabad where he played three seasons.

In October 2012, former South African test cricketer Allan Donald called the South African pace attack, which Steyn was part of, alongside Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, the best South Africa had ever produced.

He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2013, and the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2013 in 2014's Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

In terms of days, Steyn had spent 2,356 days at the top as of 6 October 2016.

In the 2016 IPL auction, he was bought by Gujarat Lions for ₹ 22.3 million.

He could not participate in the 2017 IPL season after being released by Gujarat Lions prior to the season.

In December 2018, during the first Test against Pakistan, Steyn became the leading wicket taker for South Africa in Test cricket, a distinction previously held by all-rounder and former-captain Shaun Pollock.

He went unsold at the 2018 and 2019 IPL auctions.

He was featured in Wisden Cricketers of the Decade at the end of 2019.

On 5 August 2019, Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket, to focus on limited-overs cricket.

Steyn announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 31 August 2021.

In mid-April 2019, Steyn joined Royal Challengers Bangalore for the 2019 IPL season as a replacement for the injured Nathan Coulter-Nile.

In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Cape Town Blitz team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.

In October 2019, Steyn signed to play in the Big Bash for the Melbourne Stars.

He also was included in the ICC Test Team of the Decade at the end of 2020.

In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League.

He played three matches in the tournament, picking one wicket at an average of 133 and economy rate of 11.40.

He was released from the team after the season.