IPL 2021 will begin soon. However, the fans will not be able to witness legendary South African pacer Dale Steyn in this competition. Last year, Steyn turned up for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He did not have a memorable season as he took only one wicket in three matches.
Before the Royal Challengers Bangalore made the decision to retain or release Dale Steyn from their franchise, the South African pacer himself opted out of IPL 2021. He sent out a tweet from his account to inform the fans that he would not participate in the 14th IPL season.
While Steyn mentioned he was not retiring, he did not give the exact reason for skipping IPL 2021. Recently, in an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Steyn spoke at length about his decision of not participating in IPL 2021.
“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,” Dale Steyn said.
Dale Steyn warmed the benches for 11 matches in IPL 2020. Since the tournament happened in a biosecure bubble, it was tough for every player to remain motivated. Thus, it seems like Steyn wanted a break from the competition.
Dale Steyn is playing in other T20 leagues across the world
He is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League. Steyn is a member of the Sarfraz Ahmed-led Quetta Gladiators. Steyn picked up two wickets in Quetta Gladiators’ match against Peshawar Zalmi. Before PSL 2021, Steyn represented the Kandy Tuskers team in the inaugural Lanka Premier League.
Thus, it looks like Steyn, who has 97 IPL wickets to his name in 95 matches, will continue playing in the leagues other than IPL.
