It’s difficult to put into words how much the World Test Championship victory would have meant to South Africa, especially the generations of all-time-great cricketers who had passed through the ranks and endured such protracted periods of heartbreak and disappointment. Legends like Dale Steyn, who gave their all but never got the chance to lift an ICC trophy, embodied that unfulfilled dream. To see Kyle Verreynne smash a shot through covers and ascertain that the ICC Test Mace would be returning home to the Rainbow Nation was to assuage the agony of decades of pain, living a dream shared and not fulfilled by so many.
Dale Steyn: A Legend Overcome With Emotion
One such player was Dale Steyn, the all-time great fast bowler who never quite came close to hoisting an ICC trophy. Steyn, performing media responsibilities for Star Sports, was overcome by pure emotion in the aftermath of those winning runs, left almost speechless by what it meant to see his country finally cross that barrier.
In a clip posted on the social media accounts of the Star Sports, Steyn is seen grasping for words and attempting to hold back tears, before becoming silent for a long time as the realization of the moment finally set in for him.
A Nation in Tears: Maharaj, Smith and the Shared Sentiment
Steyn was not alone in being the victim of the moment, with Keshav Maharaj also struggling through tears of his own to tell former skipper Graeme Smith just how much it means to the nation to cross the line after so many years of agony, and consistently missing the ultimate triumph.
“Life Will Carry On”: Poignant Reflection of Dale Steyn
“What do you do, what do you say? It’s incredible, I’m sitting at home, I’ve got my cap here, I’m extremely proud. I mean, what do you do? I’ll take my son for a walk and life will carry on,” said the fast bowler, lifting up his Proteas Test cap, before falling silent and welling up with emotion following the moment. It is evident how poignant a moment this is considered in South African cricket history.
And at the end of it all, it was Aiden Markram the hero with one of South Africa’s most celebrated Test centuries, backed by Kagiso Rabada’s 9-fer, a player regarded as being Dale Steyn’s heir in South Africa’s own extensive list of fast bowling legends.
