Veteran South Africa paceman Dale Steyn, who has been hit by a spate of injuries over the last two years, is not keen to continue playing limited over cricket after next year’s World Cup. In Mumbai for a promotional event, Steyn spoke on a host of issues.
On playing the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup: I am trying to get to the World Cup. If you look at South Africa’s batting line up, the top six have played 1000 games plus, but the lower half (eight to eleven) have not even played 150 games. My experience will be the trump card when the World Cup selection comes. I may not necessarily play all the time, but I think just being there will help. I am hoping to play white ball cricket after the World Cup.
Pujara’s woes in County championship:
One thing I know about Pujara is that he likes to bat for long hours. If the wickets are flat in England, India are going to have that source on whom they can rely on. He can bat long for them and it will be tough for England to get him out. Form is difficult. You can’t predict form, it is up and down for any player.
Indian pace attack without Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvaneswar Kumar: I didn’t even know that. I think they’ll have to find some really good replacements. India do rely heavily on their spinners, and they do a great job in ODI cricket. At the moment, the wickets are pretty flat (in England) and there hasn’t been a lot of turn, especially in the four-day games in county cricket. So, they have to rely on their fast bowlers. And if they don’t have them, then they’re in trouble.
Sri Lankan spinners (37 wickets out of 40) outwitting South Africa in the two-Test series:
The pitches were tough to play. To be honest, Sri Lanka played good cricket. When we arrived there, we did not have the best conditions. The nets were green and sporty. The seamers were having a field day in the nets and the batters were just playing, missing and nicking. Then the pitch we got for the warm up was an absolute road, the spinners probably bowled only ten overs in the whole game. It was a two-day game and they just bowled seam.
And then when we got into the Test matches, I think they bowled 6.3 overs of seam in two Tests! So they played there cards right. The preparation for us was really difficult. It’s not something you mourn about, you just get on with it. But that’s something we will remember in the back of our heads, when they tour South Africa. Sri Lanka came up trumps. They did their home work and planned well. If you want to win a series at home and work your way up the rankings, it’s 100 per cent, not cheating. It’s playing by the book, correctly; and hats off to them, they played cricket cricket. Well done.
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