Sports Desk – South African fast bowler Dale Steyn has been out for the first match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against England on Thursday (30 may). South African coach Otis Gibson said that this veteran fast bowler is close to recover from shoulder injury.
Gibson’s statement has paused the speculation that Steyn is going to take part in the match, and it has also been decided that this 35-year-old fast bowler has not yet achieved full fitness.
Bothered with chronic injuries
About two years ago, Dale Steyn suffered from a shoulder problem in the series against Australia. After this he has been playing much less cricket matches for nearly two years. Even in IPL 2019, he was not able to play much. Gibson said, “We think that Stan will not be fully fit for the first match. So, we have to change strategy. ” South Africa’s most successful fast bowler Steyn has taken 439 wickets in Test cricket, while he has 196 wickets in one-day cricket.
Rabada is not even fully fit
There is another reason for the problem of South Africa. Their chief fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been in the game but during the IPL, he suffered a back injury. He has not been able to recover completely from it. If that is the case, the bowling attack of South Africa will be weakened in the World Cup. Earlier, Enrique Norge has been out of the team due to injury. Captain Du plessis now has options like Chris Morris and Dwayne Pretoria.
