Dale Steyn believes to recover and be "up and running in six weeks"
Dale Steyn has expressed that he has the confidence to return to the fold within six weeks to overcome his injury that he sustained during the first Test against India. The legendary pacer has also added that he is hoping to be fit for the home Test series against Australia in March-April.
Steyn sustained yet another injury during the second day of the first Test at Newlands and this time, a serious tissue damage to his left heel, which resulted in he being ruled out of the remainder of the Test series against India. The muscle tear didn’t prevent him from coming out to bat in South Africa’s second innings during their 72-run win, but Steyn admitted that he is currently using crutches.
"I'm on the crutches because I've got a no bearing weight on the leg for a while, at least two weeks, which makes it seem worse than it actually is," Steyn said as quoted by PTI.
"But it's right underneath the heel, so it's extremely sore to stand on or step on. And as you know, as fast bowlers we land on that front foot pretty often. So I'm going to have to give it time to recover - six weeks, and I'll be up and running again."
Unfortunately, Steyn was making his comeback through this series as he was out from the international circuit after breaking a bone in his shoulder during the Perth Test in November 2016. It seemed that he found his rhythm after a long break when he managed to grab two wickets for 51, but he failed to make his comeback a success as he left the field when three balls left into his 18th over as he felt a pain on his left heel after landing awkwardly on it. The right arm fast bowler said he is hoping to be fit for the Test series against Australia which will be organized in March-April.
"Yeah, that (getting ready for the Australia series) is the plan. Next two weeks, nothing on my feet. Stay
"That's a long time. I spent a whole year out, so when someone says to me six weeks, it doesn't sound too bad," he said with a laugh," he said.
Before the Test against India, Steyn played his last longest format of the game in November 2016 against Australia. He claimed that a shoulder injury would have been a bigger blow to him.
"But this is a cricket injury, it's like a batter getting hit on the hand and breaking a finger. So I'm okay with that, just got to put it away and get on with the job," he said.
