This ‘Steyn Gun’ misfired badly when South Africa lost to New Zealand in the recent World Cup semifinals.
But, the 31-year-old speedster is in the mood to brush aside that dismal performance and focus on guiding Sunrisers Hyderabad to a title-triumph in IPL-8.
Interestingly, Steyn will be sharing the new ball with New Zealander Trent Boult, who was the star performer with 22 wickets in the World Cup.
“He has had a wonderful World Cup. Swings both ways. In a way, we complement each other. He bowls left-arm, fast and swings a lot. But again, I am not sure who will open the attack,” said Steyn who played a key role in SRH making it to the play-offs last season.
“I believe that Sunrisers’ bowling attack is the key even as we should not forget the formidable batting line-up with the likes of (David) Warner, Shikhar (Dhawan). I am delighted to have such a bowling line-up.
“We have Bhuvneshwar Kumar the purple cap holder in the last edition, Praveen Kumar who can swing a lot and smash around with the bat too. The spin bowling looks good with leggie Karn Sharma, who was one of the main wicket-takers last season, and offie Parveez Rasool in our ranks,” he said.
“What could be the decisive factor in SRH’s campaign?
“Like for any team looking to be the champions, consistency is the key. The batsmen are bound to come harder at the bowlers if the recent World Cup is any hint. I have a feeling that trend will spill over into the IPL this time.
Totals of 200-plus will be quite regular. Yes people love to watch batsmen go after the bowlers in this format,” Steyn said.
He also pointed out that in the T20 format the days of a bowler being content with line and length were gone.
“It is all about how aggressive you are — hitting the yorker length, fast bouncers. It is all about how intimidating you are now,” he said.
