Dale Steyn ruled out of the World Cup

In a massive blow for South Africa, their pace spearhead Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the World Cup due to a shoulder injury. Left-arm pacer Beuran Hendricks will replace him in the squad.

Steyn did not play in South Africa’s opening two matches against England and Bangladesh in the tournament, with both ending in defeat for the Proteas. Steyn sustained the injury while playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore during the 2019 edition of the IPL.

Cricket South Africa stated that Steyn had suffered a second shoulder injury which has not responded well to treatment ruling him out of action the foreseeable future.

#BreakingNews Dale Steyn out of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, with Beuran Hendricks to replace him. More to follow. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/vZLZWj6kw4

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) June 4, 2019

The news was also confirmed by ICC in a statement:

“South Africa’s Dale Steyn been ruled out of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup after failing to recover from a shoulder injury. Steyn, South Africa’s fifth highest ODI wicket-taker of all time, withdrew from the Indian Premier League with the same issue and has already missed the first two games of his team’s campaign at the Cricket World Cup. Steyn will be replaced in the South African squad by left-arm quick Beuran Hendricks who made his ODI debut in January this year against Pakistan.”

This comes as another big blow for the South African team management who are already searching for answers following South Africa’s back-to-back defeats. They are also reeling from the injury to another key pacer, Lungi Ngidi, who has been ruled out for 7-10 days.