Retirements of batsman Hashim Amla and fast bowler Dale Steyn (only from tests) last week have dealt a huge blow for South African cricket. Two legends after serving South Africa for more than a decade finally decided to hang their boots leaving a huge void to fill for South African cricket.
Steyn to continue in shorter formats
Steyn though will continue to represent South Africa in the shorter formats. It should be a slight relief for South Africa as Dale Steyn with regular injury issues was struggling to play the five day format. So to play ODI’s and T20s after missing out of the World Cup due to injury must have been a huge decision. Steyn wanted to represent South Africa in one format or other as he had missed out on playing lot of cricket in the last couple of years due to injuries.
Highest wicket taker for SA in tests
A terrific swing bowler Dale Steyn had competition from Morne Morkel who retired last year. Both were a terrific new ball duo. Inspite of sharing spoils with him, Dale Steyn had a terrific test record. To finish with 439 test wickets, the most by a South African, from just 93 test matches at an average of 22.9 and a strike rate of 42.4 makes him one of the greats of the game. However a World Cup has eluded him and one can’t see him playing the ODI World Cup four years down the line. But he will continue to entertain in the shorter formats and that would be a big relief to his millions of fans.
An amazing journey for Hashim Amla
Another South African cricketer to hang his boots from all forms of the game was Hashim Amla. Amla’s unorthodox technique had a fair share of critics. His weakness against the short ball initially didn’t help him either. But he fought through it and finished with 9282 runs from 124 tests at an average of 46.41. In 2012, his innings of 311 against England at The Oval made him the first South African to score a triple century.
Excellent ODI record
Amla had a even better record in ODI’s becoming the fastest to reach 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 runs. He finished with an average of close to 50 and over 8000 ODI runs. Like Dale Steyn and many South African greats Amla could not win a World Cup. He along with Jaque Kallis, Graeme Smith, AB Devilliers and Faf Du Plessis formed a strong batting line up for South Africa.
Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla were part of a South African team which were a dominant force all over the world in test cricket. South Africa will now have to find replacements, which would be a herculean task, keeping in mind the quality of cricketers who have called it quits.
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