South African pacer and one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, Dale Steyn, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The right-arm quick, 38, thus ended his 20-year career in which he became South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. Steyn retired from the five-day format in 2019 but had been available for limited-overs cricket and hoped to feature at the T20 World Cup in the UAE later this year. "It has been 20 years of training, matches, travel, wins, losses, strapped feet, jet lag, joy and brotherhood. Today I officially retire from the game I love the most. Bittersweet, but grateful," Steyn said in a statement. "Thank you to everyone, from family to team-mates, journalists to fans, it's been an incredible journey together." Steyn took 699 international wickets, including a South African record 439 in red-ball cricket, and is regarded as one of the greatest quicks of his generation, alongside England's James Anderson. He had not played any top-class cricket since March this year when he made the last of three appearances for the Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League. Steyn spent six years as the number one bowler in Test cricket rankings. His best performance was arguably when he made his highest Test score of 76 and had match figures of 10-154 as he helped South Africa beat Australia in Melbourne in 2008 to clinch their first series win in Australia. He also took a 10-wicket match haul on a dead Nagpur pitch in a 2010 Test against India is what is regarded as one of the best displays of quick bowling in the subcontinent. Steyn spent a majority of his career relatively injury free but a shoulder injury in 2016 took some sting out his bowling, which relied on extreme pace.
