Tendulkar salutes one-time rival Dale Steyn on retirement

THE two had duels on the field often but that didn’t stop Indian great Sachin Tendulkar from praising South African pacer Dale Steyn after the latter announced his retirement from cricket on Tuesday (31).

The 38-year-old confirmed his decision to hang the boots from all forms of the game on social media platforms. He wrote, “Today I officially retire from the game I love the most. Bitter sweet but grateful.”

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In a tweet, Tendulkar wrote, “Congratulations on a wonderful career @DaleSteyn62! It was always great playing against you. Hope you enjoy your 2nd innings as much as you enjoyed your 1st.” He also posted a picture of him and Steyn exchanging pleasantries in a past game.

Steyn, who made his international debut in 2004, played 93 Tests, 125 one-day internationals and 47 Twenty20 internationals for South Africa to end up with an international wicket tally of 699.

The former fast bowler, who once rattled the best batting line-ups with his fierce pace, is South Africa’s highest wicket-taker with 439 scalps and is the second highest wicket-taker across formats. He also took 196 wickets in the ODIs and 64 in the T20Is. He was part of the Proteas’ golden generation of fast bowlers and his opening bowling partnership with Morne Morkel rattled the best batting line-ups in the world.

Steyn also played for various teams in T20 leagues across the world, including the Indian Premier League and the Pakistan Super League.

In his parting tweet, Steyn also wrote, “It’s been 20 years of training, matches, travel, wins, losses, strapped feet, jet lag, joy, and brotherhood. There are too many memories to tell. Too many faces to thank. So I left it to experts to sum up, my favourite band, the Counting Crows.”

The former cricketer, who made his international debut with another former South African great AB de Villiers, also put out US band Counting Crows’ lyrics in his farewell note.

“And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe; Maybe this year will be better than the last; I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself; To hold on to these moments as they pass,” he quoted lyrics from the song ‘A Long December’.