Biography of Dale Steyn:- Dale Steyn is a man of strong emotions that makes him a more fearsome bowler when mixed with the brutality and pace he possesses. Steyn hailed from the northern province of Transvaal and city Phalaborwa, South Africa on 27 June 1983.
The Steyn gun as they say him had his career divided into two phases, the one when he made his International debut only after playing in seven first-class games and failed to make any impression.
The second spell of Steyn’s bowling career is still running and growing; he was considered the most feared bowler in modern-day cricket after the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee.
Biography of Dale Steyn
- Born:- 27 June 1983 (age 34), Phalaborwa, South Africa
- Height:- 1.79 m
- Partner:- Jeanne Kietzmann
- Test Debut:- 17 December 2004 v England
- ODI Debut:- 17 August 2005 v Asia XI
- T20I Debut:- 23 November 2007 v New Zealand
He is rude, arrogant, and incredibly talented, he can swing the ball wherever he wants, his bowling average is super good, the best right now in International cricket.
See Also: Biography of Graeme Smith
Dale Steyn was at his best in 2008 when he secured 86 wickets in a calendar year in only 14 matches, the average of Dale Steyn that year was 18.10, best by any bowler in modern cricket.
Dale Steyn bowling terrorized the world-class batsmen on Asian, Australian, and African pitches alike. His bowling figures are considered as best by any player who made his debut after 2000.
Dale Steyn had trouble with his ankle and hamstring since 2010; he had few surgeries and minor operations. The hamstring injuries were the most often ones, he was also the fastest South African to reach 100 Test wickets, also the 15th in the world to do so.
Dale Steyn remained the spearhead of South African fiery bowling attack for 9 years and is still doing his part. Steyn is still coping with the multiple injuries; he has denied any rumors about his retirement saying that he is not even thinking about the retirement.
The full biography of Dale Steyn between 2003-2017 is provided along with the stats, records, career, and personal life.
Dale Steyn Stats & Records
Dale Steyn made his ODI debut on 17 August 2005, since then he has contested in 116 ODI games. His Test debut came against England on 17 December 2004.
Against New Zealand, Dale Steyn stood at his first T20i match. In 85 test matches till now, Dale Steyn took 417 wickets with a bowling average of 22.30.
His best figures were 7-51 in bowling, and 76 were Steyn’s highest score in batting with a total of 1162 runs in the format. He has 26 five-wicket hauls, and five 10-wicket hauls in bowling and 2 fifties while batting.
In 116 ODIs, Dale Steyn managed to receive 180 wickets with a dazzling bowling average of 26.62 and 3 five-wicket sessions. His best bowling figures were 6-39 and took 26 catches in ODIs and 22 in test format.
In 42 T20 Internationals, Dale Steynhas 58 wickets in his account with the best bowling figures of 4 for 9, and a bowling average of 17.39. Overall, in 128 first-class (both domestic and away games).
Dale Steyn crossed the golden figure of 500+ wickets with a bowling average of 23.28 and 35 five-wicket rampages out of 576 wickets and seven 10-wickets in a match. The best bowling figures for Dale Steyn in first-class are 8-41.
Records
Dale Steyn holds the world record of staying as ICC Number One Bowler in Test Rankings for straight 263 weeks, the recordremained as the longest successful run by any bowler in history i.e. for 6 years between 2008 and 2014.
Steyn also broke the record of Muttiah Muralitharan of remaining at number 1 in ICC Test Ranking for 263 test matches. Steyn is the fifth-best in bowling strike rate.
Dale Steyn is the fastest South African bowler to cross 100, 150, and 200 wickets mark, the second-fastest in the world to reach 250 wickets, and third-fastest in the world to break 300 wickets barrier, he is termed as the best bowler ever produced by South Africa.
After Sri Lankan magician Muttiah Muralitharan, Steyn is second fastest in reaching 300 and 350 wickets and the fastest South African to do so. He is also the fastest to reach 400 International Test wickets.
Dale Steyn is the only bowler to take five-wicket hauls against all the test playing nations.
Domestic & International Career
Steyn grew up in rural South Africa nearing Kruger National Park; he was interested in cricket and skateboarding more than anything in the world. Steyn moved to the city and started playing first-class for Northerns from October 2003.
After playing only seven games, Steyn was there playing his first Test match against England. He had power and accuracy that led to instant success in First-class but failed him on International stage due to lack of variations, experience, and coaching.
After the three-match Test series, Steyn started playing for English County Club Essex for 2005 season. In the later half, Dale Steyn returned to South Africa and played for Titans under the coaching of veteran South African cricketers. Ian Pont became Steyn’s mentor for the 2005-06 seasons, it turned out being the best season for Steyn, and he was recalled.
Since 2006, Steyn became a regular member of South African squad continuing to play for Titans regularly when not playing for national team.
Dale Steyn made his ODI debut after a comeback in the Test squad, the first match was against Australia and Steyn wasn’t impressive with the ball that led to him being dropped from the squad.
In the2006-07 season, Dale Steyn participated in a series against Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan. The best figures came against Sri Lanka. His only five-wicket haul was in the second match of the series.
Year 2008-2014
Steyn bowled his career-best figures in T20 Internationals against the West Indies, his 4/9 in three over’s were exceptional with Yorkers and perfect deliveries.
In the Test series that followed, he took a five-wicket session and led South Africa to victory in the series. He took a total of 20 wickets at an average of 19.10 and a man-of-the-match award. In the next series against Bangladesh, Dale Steyn became the fastest South African to reach 100 wickets in 20 matches.
In the series against India, Steyn took 15 wickets on batting pitches and became Number one test bowler in ICC Rankings for the first time. In the next season, against Australia, Dale Steyn made his highest score in Test cricket of 76 with a record partnership of 180 with JP Duminy.
He took a five-wicket haul in the second Test match and another one in the same match with a total of 10 wickets. South Africa defeated Australia by 2-1.
In ICC World Cup 2011, Steyn was at his best against India, the eventual winners of the Cup. He toppled the batting order of India tumbling down Indian batting lineup; SA took 9 wickets in 29 balls.
Dale Steyn always bowled greaton sub continental pitches; his most of the records belong to Asian grounds. It included his stats in the Indian Premier League. He has the ability to reverse swing at a very massive pace.
Dale Steyn was at his best when he toppled Indian batting in 2010 with his deadly reverse swing. Dale Steyn was the bowler who was hit for a six in a nail-biting semi-final of ICC World Cup 2015 when Grant Elliot smashed Dale Steyn for a six to long-on securing a place in final.
Indian Premier League
Dale Steyn was included in the first season of Indian Premier League in 2008. He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural season. He remained with the franchise for three seasons.
In 2011, RCB released Dale Steyn, and he was included in the auctions, later bought by Deccan Chargers for $1.2 Million becoming one of the most expensive players of that edition.
Dale Steyn was part of Sunrises Hyderabad in IPL 2013, he was the leading bowler for the franchise who led the team to playoffs and took 19 wickets in the season. Steyn missed IPL 2016 and IPL 2017 owing to his injuries and eyeing a proper comeback in cricket playing for the Proteas.
Apart from paying Indian Premier League, Dale Steyn has contested in Australia’s KFC Big Bash League playing for Brisbane Heat, and Cape Cobras.
Dale Steyn Family and Personal Life
Dale Steyn started dating his present-day wife and Hollywood actress Jeanne Kietzmann in 2007. Both were not doing good in their respective careers at that time, Steyn saw Jeanne, asked for her number while she was waiting tables at a local restaurant, Jeanne Kietzmann gave him the number and the everlasting love story started.
After Steyn had met Jeanne Kietzmann and Jeanne met Steyn, both are at the peak of their professions, Steyn became World Number 1 bowler, and she became a great actress. Jeanne Kietzmann holds a degree in fashion designing.
Dale Steyn also featured in a Hollywood Romantic Comedy “Blended” as himself bowling to a kid, the movie featured Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
Dale Steyn is known for his aggressiveness and sledging the opposing batsmen while bowling, he had several confrontations with the Pakistani, Australian, and Indian cricketers many times. In IPL, he had a face-off with Indian batsman Yusuf Pathan.
