Rivals can’t get off this Steyn power in RCB

He’s fast, he’s fire and he’s an RCBian now — South African pacer Dale Steyn who made a late entry into the Royal Challengers Bangalore seems to have changed namma squad’s fortune in just two games. The Proteas bowler, who came in as replacement for the injured Nathan Counter-Nile took two wickets against KKR including that of Chris Lynn. He was also a key game-changer in the thrilling RCB- CSK game as he took the two crucial wickets — that of Shane Watson and Suresh Raina. With Steyn proving why he’s one of the world’s best in what he does, RCB aficionados can’t stop going gaga over the bowler.

College student and RCB fan army member Mohammed Arsalan Ahmed says, “Dale Steyn has been the motivation we all needed in the RCB family. As the team was looking for an experienced world-class bowler who could lead our out-of-shape bowling attack, it’s a good thing they got Steyn. Fans hold him in high regard as we have a long connection with him going back to our earlier years of IPL where he played with us for three years.

We couldn’t have anyone better to come and solve our bowling crisis!” Before Steyn arrived, RCB had just picked up three wickets in the power play in the whole IPL. “But once he came in, it just lifted the morale of other bowlers too. With his amazing knack of picking up big wickets at the start, this has given us a big boost,” smiles Arsanal.

Fans have been posting the ten-year challenge of Steyn - with pictures of him back in 2009 with RCB to photos of him in 2019. College-goer Sonal Prabhu can’t stop gushing over Steyn man. “He came in as a replacement, but I guess RCB wanted him permanently! What a fabulous player he is - he took key wickets and indeed became the game-changer in our last two matches. I can’t wait to see him show us his ferocious bowling skills in the upcoming games,” she says.

With Steyn’s aggressiveness a key part of his bowling, RCB fan Tasmia Aga is thrilled that he’s been able to contribute to transforming our team’s hapless start.

“The nail-biting RCB-CSK finish gave us all an adrenaline rush. It’s interesting to see him here ‘cos he started his IPL career with the Royal Challengers - let’s hope he turns tables and brings in more victories. The bottom-line remains that Steyn looks great together with Captain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and the entire Red squad, but they definitely need to work on some loopholes to finally end the trolling and prove that they have finally covered all bases by winning their forthcoming matches,” she opines.

Some of our ardent fans still have hopes that RCB can make it to the play-offs. Says Arsanal, “With momentum on our side. it doesn’t seem as difficult to make it to the playoffs now as it was seeming to be. We could life our first ever IPL trophy even after having the worst start to the season! In short — we’ve got a lion (Dale Steyn) in our bowling attack to complement another lion(Virat) in the batting department and win the games for us in tandem!”