Dale Steyn Didn't Need 400 Wickets to Cement His Status as Legendary

As if it needed conformation, Dale Steyn cemented his reputation as a legendary bowler on Thursday when he claimed his 400th Test scalp. He achieved the landmark in the joint-second fastest time—tied with Sir Richard Hadlee behind Muttiah Muralitharan. Steyn is the fastest to the landmark in terms of balls bowled.

Steyn has been the mainstay of the South African attack for a good few years now. His energy, accuracy and ability to set batsmen up have been key to South Africa’s success over the last decade.

Nobody on the list of bowlers to take 400 wickets has a strike rate anywhere near as good as Steyn’s. He is the only one with a strike rate below 50. While this might become less impressive as his career goes on, it is still a remarkable stat. It is even more remarkable when you consider Steyn plays in an era when more and more runs are scored on average per innings.

Steyn can also boast the fact he has more wickets on the subcontinent than any other bowler from outside the area.

You could spend days finding stats that highlight just how impressive Steyn’s record is, but all you really need to do is watch him.

Through it all, Steyn has remained humble, and stats aren’t exactly at the top of his priority list.

“I have never been a stats person,” he said about the achievement. “It’s nice to have these numbers, but I have had a lot better moments in my cricketing career. Winning games for my country has always been objective number one so the jobs not over yet. It’s cool. It’s nice to have 400.”

The South African pace ace didn’t even think he would ever get to this point in his career. And for a kid who preferred skateboarding to cricket in his early years, perhaps that’s not too much of a surprise. Luckily for South Africa, Steyn is now like a jack-in-the-box and never wants to stop.

“I want to play every game,” he said when asked about his next target. “I want to bowl again tomorrow and I want to bowl again the next time South Africa pick me. Anything can happen—I don’t set targets. I would’ve been happy if I had taken just one wicket in my international career. It’s enough to play for South Africa and take wickets for South Africa, and then I managed to get 400. I never thought that that would happen...ever in my life.”

Earlier this year, Steyn caused uproar when he said that he doesn’t want to “waste” balls bowling in Bangladesh, and after taking his 400th wicket, he admitted he went through a period in which he fell out of love with bowling.

“I love what I am doing right now, even if it’s in 40-degree heat and the ball is staying ankle high,” he said. “It’s [the ball] not bouncing and there’s no seam and it’s very slow, [but] I would rather be here than anywhere else right now. There was a period [after the IPL] when I actually didn’t want to have a ball in my hand. I think I just needed maybe two or three weeks to get that love back again.”

South Africa fans will be pleased the legend is back doing what he does best. With tough tours away to India and at home against England to come, Steyn has plenty of opportunities to enhance his legendary reputation even further.

All quotes obtained first hand.