Dale Steyn keen on playing IPL next year

Veteran South African pacer Dale Steyn sparked a controversy earlier this year after presenting his opinion on the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL). Steyn, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2020, pulled out of this year’s IPL and instead played in PSL for Quetta Gladiators. Moreover, the legendary Proteas speedster opined that PSL is “more rewarding” for a player while in IPL, there is a greater emphasis on the amount of money.

Unsurprisingly, Steyn faced a lot of flak from the Indian fans over his remarks. The Proteas pacer even clarified his statement and said that he never intended to insult the lucrative Indian league. Although Dale Steyn apologized for his comments, his sensational interview indicated that he’s not keen to play in IPL anymore.

However, that’s not the case. In a recent interaction, Steyn said that he still has one more IPL left in him. He even threw light on his decision to skip 2021 season

Dale Steyn sheds light on choosing PSL over IPL

“I think when you’re not playing for your country you quickly get forgotten. It was a concern of mine when I was still playing for South Africa. I had a chat with my agent. He was like, ‘Maybe you should retire.’ I’m like, ‘I’m worried that if I retire I might not get taken seriously as a cricketer to go to the IPL anymore,” Steyn was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“So I’ve got to go to leagues where I know there’s a 99% chance that I’m going to play every single game. If I went to the IPL this year I probably wouldn’t have played, just like I didn’t play (much) last year,” he added.

Addressing his chances of playing IPL again, the 37-year-old said that if he does well in other leagues then a franchise might show interest in him. However, the talismanic pacer also made it clear that he would want to be a regular member of the starting XI rather than warming the benches.

“If I want to win the purple cap I’ve got to play every game. There could be a chance next year, but for this year I felt that if I wanted to be taken more seriously I’ve got to play more cricket. But with the pandemic it makes it really difficult. I don’t want to spend most of my time sitting in quarantine. So you’ve got to weigh it up. But maybe there’s one more IPL for me. Let’s see,” asserted Steyn.