South African pacer Dale Steyn has said he finds the Pakistan Super League(PSL) “more rewarding” than the Indian Premier League(IPL). Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, the fast bowler said that “cricket gets forgotten” at times in the IPL.
In January this year, Steyn had made himself unavailable for IPL 2021 but ruled out an imminent retirement from competitive cricket. The 37-year-old had played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last edition of the IPL, where he got to play three matches and bagged one wicket.
Dale Steyn Reveals the reason for skipping IPL 2021
Speaking about his experience of IPL, Dale Steyn said that cricket gets forgotten sometimes amid money talks.
It was one of the reasons why he pulled out of IPL 2021 earlier this year. Dale Steyn had a dismal campaign in IPL 2020 where he had struggled to get into Royal Challengers Bangalore’s playing XI. Overall, he played three games and managed to take just one wicket.
“I wanted some time off and i found that playing in these other leagues was slightly more rewarding as a player. I think when you go to IPL, there are such big squads and so many big names and so much emphasis on maybe the amount of money players earn and everything like that, so sometimes, somewhere down the line, cricket gets forgotten,” Dale Steyn told Cricket Pakistan.
Steyn look forward to play PSL
Steyn is currently playing the sixth season of the Pakistan Super League for the Quetta Gladiators. Having last played international cricket in February of last year, Steyn is on the final leg of his career and the fast bowler wants to squeeze out every last drop of the sponge in the best way possible.
“When you come to like a PSL or the Sri Lankan Premier League, for that matter, there is an importance on the cricket. I have only been here for a couple of days and I have had people in and out of my room, just wanting to know about where I have played and how I went about it. Whereas, when I go to something like the IPL that gets forgotten and the main topic is how much money did you go for in this IPL?
“That’s just me being brutally honest. I wanted to stay away from that and really put more emphasis on playing and bringing good vibes to good cricket teams and tournaments I feel are worth it,” he added.
Overall, Dale Steyn played 95 games in IPL and represented Royal Challengers Bangalore, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Gujarat Lions. He picked up 97 wickets in his IPL career and maintained an impressive economy rate of 6.91.
