‘If we look at the overall picture, at the average and at the economy rate, I think I am doing okay’ – Dale Steyn © BCCI
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has said that the manner in which Twenty20 cricket has evolved means that even the best bowlers will be taken for runs, but he believed his bowling stats have been “reasonable” through his career.
“I think it will be completely difficult for a batsman in T20s to be leaving a ball outside the off stump like in a Test,” Steyn told cricbuzz. “Here the game implies that you score runs, so no matter who is bowling, whether it is myself or (Lasith) Malinga or (Sunil) Narine, it doesn’t matter who it is, batters will make plans to score runs off every ball and try and hit boundaries. Doesn’t matter who you are but it is the format that makes that happen.
“Even if I am going for a boundary in every over overall, the idea is to go for not more than six runs an over, which I have more or less maintained throughout my career. I think that is pretty reasonable for a game where teams can very easily go for 19 or 20 runs an over.”
Steyn, who will turn out for Gujarat Lions in IPL 2016, has taken 178 wickets in 165 matches at an economy rate of 6.68. Since 2015, however, he has played only 10 T20 games and picked up six wickets, with an average of 50 and an economy rate of 9.09. In the IPL, he has 92 wickets from 89 games and his overall economy rate stands at 6.71. Lions will be the fourth IPL franchise Steyn will represent, after previous stints with Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“The game is definitely changing, it is easy to score runs now and you got to understand that,” he said. “People need to start understanding that it is not the 1990s where bowlers can go for three runs an over. Honestly, on an average, bowlers can easily go for 12 to 15 runs an over in this format. If we look at the overall picture, at the average and at the economy rate, I think I am doing okay.”
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo