Dale Steyn likely to return in the T20 Global League

It has been nearly 10 months since South Africa’s ace pacer Dale Steyn represented the Proteas in an International match. Steyn is also scheduled to miss out on the upcoming series against Bangladesh. The fast bowler is now looking at the inaugural edition of the T20 Global League to make a comeback into competitive cricket.

The league is scheduled to commence from the first week of November. He would be representing the Cape Town Knight Riders in the franchise based tournament. Since November 2016, he has been nursing a shoulder injury which he sustained during the First Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth.

Previously, Steyn aimed at the start of the domestic season to make a comeback into the grind of international cricket after recuperating throughout 2017. With 417 Test cricket, the 34-year old is only four wickets short of Shaun Pollock‘s tally of highest wickets in Tests for South Africa.

Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager, confirmed that Steyn was not quite ready yet. “Last week Dale developed a strain to the muscle in his right troublesome shoulder,” commented Moosajee during the unveiling ceremony of their new coach Ottis Gibson in Johanessburg.

Philander and Morris to miss out Bangladesh series

“We’re not going to set an artificial timeline for Dale Steyn. The plan now is to get him ready for competitive cricket when he is ready. We’re hoping that it will be slow and graduated return to full intensity bowling and in reality, the target will only probably be for the T20 Global League in November.” added the team manager according to Sports 24. Which means, Dale Steyn would be out of action for nearly 1 year when he resumes action in November.

The other major names to miss out on the upcoming series against Bangladesh starting September 28 at Potchefstroom are strike bowlers Vernon Philander and Chris Morris. Lungi Ngidi, meanwhile, is expected to return to full fitness in mid-October.