Faf du Plessis Rues Dale Steyn's Decision To Play In IPL
Dale Steyn, Faf du Plessis (Credits: Getty)

The ongoing World Cup was seen as Dale Steyn’s last ICC tournament and also the last opportunity for him to win a multi-nation ICC tournament. Steyn’s otherwise stellar, injury-free run has been marred by a troublesome shoulder over the past year or two. And that same shoulder injury has now dashed his hopes of playing in the World Cup.

Steyn, on Tuesday, was ruled out of the entire World Cup. The right-arm pacer had missed the games against England and Bangladesh and was looking set to play the game against India on Wednesday. However, he suffered a second shoulder injury which has ruled him out of bowling for the foreseeable future. This was the same injury that had also cut short his IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

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Faf du Plessis Rues Dale Steyn's Decision To Play In IPL
Dale Steyn (Credits: Twitter)

And now South Africa captain Faf du Plessis is ruing over if and buts, had Dale Steyn not gone to India for the IPL. Steyn was initially not a part of the Royal Challengers’ squad but had joined later as a replacement for Nathan Coulter-Nile. The Proteas star had played two games, picking up four wickets before returning home due to the injury.

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“If Dale hadn’t gone to the IPL, who knows how it could have been today,” said Faf du Plessis ahead of the game against India.

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Du Plessis also pointed out how tough this phase has been for Dale Steyn as he made it clear that the team will support the legendary pacer.

“Dale has tried really hard – really hard – to try and get back into the team. It’s been a tough two years, and we’ve got to be strong for him. He’s going to need a bit of love. He tried unbelievably hard to get fit for this campaign, which would have been his last World Cup. We’ve got to be there for him now,” he added.

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Faf du Plessis (Credits: AP)

South Africa, meanwhile, has named left-arm quick Beuran Hendricks as Dale Steyn’s replacement. The Proteas have lost both their opening two games so far and would be looking to open their points tally against India.

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