The Royal Challengers Bangalore had lost six in six games when they announced that South African pacer Dale Steyn was going to replace injured Nathan Coulter-Nile for the remainder of the 2019 Indian Premier League season. By the time Steyn joined the squad, the Virat Kohli-led franchise had won one and lost one game.
Nonetheless, his addition to the playing eleven has had a significant impact on the team’s performance, with RCB winning both those matches.
Interestingly, Steyn happens to be an RCB veteran, having started his IPL career with the franchise. He played 28 games for the team between 2008 to 2010, picking 27 wickets before moving to Deccan Chargers in 2011.
After their thrilling 1-run win over Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, 21 April, RCB skipper Kohli shared his “favourite 10-year challenge” with Steyn. The photo collage should an old image from IPL 2010 – a season before Steyn left RCB to join Deccan Chargers – along with a new one from the ongoing season.
Amidst the post-match celebrations on Sunday, the duo had also reacted to the viral image, talking about the nostalgia of discovering a 9-year old treasure.
The Indian skipper said, "There is a little thing that came out on social media recently the '10-year challenge. I want everyone to have a look at this, me and Dale Steyn on the left in 2010, and me and Dale Steyn on the right in 2019. Dale Steyn looks the same but on the left, you can see it's a different human being on the left image and on the right, it's a different one,”.
Kohli further added, “Feels amazing to celebrate with this man (Steyn) after 10 years and we would never have thought after parting ways in 2010 that we will be doing the same thing at Chinnaswamy all over again,".
In reply to his skipper, Steyn added that the picture did make him feel nostalgic and that he was in awe of the transformation Kohli has undergone as a player.
"That photo you are right, brings back some good memories, some nostalgia. It just shows how well you have done, this man (Kohli) has gone on to take the world by a storm. One of the best players if not the best batsmen in the world and I was lucky enough to watch him, in the beginning, meeting him as an 18-year-old and the man that stands in front of me now is an Indian captain so it's an honour," the 35-year old pacer said.
Defending a total of 162, Steyn took the attack to Chennai as he dismissed Shane Watson and Suresh Raina in the first over to pile the pressure on top of the table CSK.
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