Dale Steyn - The man who was put on earth to bowl fast

Genuine fast bowlers such as Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Imran Khan, Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee belonged to a league of extraordinary gentlemen who dominated world cricket from the late 1970s through the early 1990s

The modern era saw the emergence of tearaway pacers like Allan Donald, Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar who all crossed the 90 mph barrier withouth breaking a sweat. But after their departure from world cricket there wasn't much to look forward to until one day a young boy from South Africa named, Dale Steyn, burst onto the international scene.

Dale Steyn made his debut at the age of 20 against England at Port Elizabeth in December, 2004. Marcus Trescothik was the first Test wicket for the 'Steyn-Gun', who has since taken 406 wickets, becoming the fastest bowler to do so based on balls bowled.

Feared in all three formats alike, Steyn says he doesn't do anything different to prepare when it comes to Tests, ODIs or T20Is.

"My preparation stays the same and I like to bowl. I have realised the older I am getting, I need to bowl more and it is no stranger thing that the older you get, the more you need to work on your body."

"I don't see myself as a different bowler, but different formats dictate that."

"In Test cricket you bowl a good ball and a batter can leave it. But, in T20 the game dictates that you need to speed up the process. You can bowl a good ball and the batter may hit it for a six."