‘It will not be easy for Steyn,’ says Indian spinner


It has been a long time since South African pacer Dale Steyn
graced the cricket field with his relentless pace. The speedster has been out
injured for over a year and will finally be back in action against Zimbabwe in
the inaugural 4-day Test.
While the world is awaiting to witness Steyn back in action,
Indian spinner Harbhajjan Singh claims that the South African will find it very
difficult to get back to the groove in the international arena. The off-spinner
believes that Steyn might have been the best pacer in the last decade, but
getting back on track is always hard and that the series against Zimbabwe isn’t
the best of events to judge what he can do against India in January.
“Dale Steyn is unarguably the best fast bowler of the last
10 years but coming back into international cricket is not easy. A Test match
against Zimbabwe will not exactly be an indicator of what he can do against
India,” Harbhajan said during an interview when asked about the upcoming South
Africa series.
“Look at the Indian batting line up. We have so much
quality. Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit
Sharma. This is perhaps among the best line-up in world cricket.”

And Bhajji is confident that the South Africans will find it
hard to stop the Indian batting line-up when the bowlers themselves are still
recuperating.
“For both Steyn and Morkel, it will be a challenge to stop this
line-up especially when they themselves will need to get into the groove,” he
enthused.
The ‘Turbanator’ then assessed about the pitches in South
Africa, stating the lack of lateral movement means that the only thing the
batsmen have to worry about is bounce.
“The kookaburra ball, as everyone knows, will stop seaming
after 20 odd overs. Plus it’s only the bounce that needs to be taken care of.”
India take on South Africa in the first month of next year. South Africa are one of the hardest teams to beat at home and Bhajji’s words might come back to bite him by the series’ conclusion.
Picture credit: Getty Images