Kagiso Rabada proudly carries Dale Steyn on his shoulders

The last few years for Dale Steyn haven’t been joyful by any stretch of the imagination. He has managed to taste success in all the three formats of cricket, but his career has also been marred by frequent injuries, something which kept him out of the South African team for quite a significant amount of times. However, even at the age of 35, he remains to be an indispensable member of the side.

After his calf-injury during the Proteas’ three-match series against India earlier this year, he made his comeback on the cricket pitch with his stint for Hampshire in England’s first-class and List ‘A’ cricket. Thereafter, the right-arm speedster played against Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series where he picked up only a couple of wickets. Moreover, the pacer remained stuck on 421 Test wickets.

Dale Steyn goes to the top

Shaun Pollock, whose international career spanned a whopping 14 years from 2005 to 2018, was the leading wicket-taker for South Africa in Test cricket (421). Steyn needed only one wicket to overhaul the legendary bowler’s tally. The team, captained by Faf du Plessis, is currently playing the first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan at SuperSport Park in Centurion and Steyn has stepped up.

He took only 19 balls to become the highest wicket-taker for South Africa in the longest format. Steyn churned out an away-going ball in his fourth over and Pakistani opening batsman Fakhar Zaman, who was playing his second Test, flirted perilously outside the off-stump. However, the leather got the bat’s outside-edge and Dean Elgar, in the slips, didn’t make any mistake whatsoever in grasping the ball.

Pollock had the privilege of commentating during the dismissal and said that Steyn deserves to perch at the helm. After Steyn accomplished the milestone, fellow fast bowler Kagiso Rabada lifted him on his shoulders to express gratitude to the seamer for his contributions to South African cricket. Rabada is also someone who has the potential to be a great bowler for the nation in international cricket.

Here is the video

Relive the moment when @DaleSteyn62 became the leading Test wicket taker for South Africa. #422andbeyond #ProteaFire #SteynRemover #Watch pic.twitter.com/x3cziWfDIz

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) December 26, 2018

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