Former South African paceman Dale Steyn decided to miss the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) later this year. Steyn has been a regular in IPL since making his debut back in 2008 but decided not to fly down to India after being part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad last season.
In 95 IPL games, Steyn has a haul of 97 wickets at an average of 25.85 but only managed to pick up 1 wicket in three games last year. Multiple injuries have limited his IPL appearance in the tournament. In the last four seasons, Steyn has featured in 12 combined matches, getting 1, 2 and 3 games in the last three IPL seasons.
“I wanted some time off. I found that playing in these other leagues was slightly more rewarding as a player. I think when you go to IPL, there are such big squads and so many big names and so much emphasis on maybe the amount of money players earn and everything like that, so sometimes, somewhere down the line, cricket gets forgotten,” Steyn told Cricket Pakistan.
Steyn is currently playing the sixth season of Pakistan Super League (PSL) for the Quetta Gladiators. Having last played international cricket in February of last year, Steyn is on the final leg of his career and the fast bowler wants to squeeze out every last drop of the sponge in the best way possible.
“When you come to like a PSL or the Sri Lankan Premier League, for that matter, there is an importance on the cricket. I have only been here for a couple of days and I have had people in and out of my room, just wanting to know about where I have played and how I went about it,” Steyn added.
“Whereas, when I go to something like the IPL that gets forgotten and the main topic is how much money did you go for in this IPL? That’s just me being brutally honest. I wanted to stay away from that and really put more emphasis on playing and bringing good vibes to good cricket teams and tournaments I feel are worth it,” Steyn, who called time on his international career last year, said.
