South Africa's Dale Steyn to miss final India Test
Wednesday 2 December 2015 12:13, UK
Dale Steyn will miss South Africa's fourth and final Test against India with the groin injury which has meant he has only bowled 11 overs in the series.
With the series already lost and a home series against England looming, few expected the 32-year-old to return to the squad even as his team bid for a pride-salvaging victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi, starting on Thursday.
Currently the No 1 Test bowler, Steyn will finish the series having bowled only 11 overs, during India's first innings at Mohali.
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"I can confirm that Dale Steyn is not going to be fit," captain Hashim Amla confirmed. "Dale is not playing in this game."
The turning track in India has already taken much of the sting off the Proteas attack and Steyn's injury meant he and Morne Morkel, who missed the Mohali contest with a quad strain, never bowled in tandem in the series.
The visitors were also unlucky as a third cog in their pace attack, Vernon Philander, sustained an ankle injury after the first test to be ruled out of the remainder of the series.
South Africa were beaten inside three days on rank turners in Mohali and Nagpur, while India dominated whatever little play was possible in the rained-out second Test in Bangalore as well.
It might be too late in the series but Amla said the Proteas need to win in Delhi, especially before their four-Test home series against England on Boxing Day.
"We got the England series very close, two weeks after we get back. It's very important for us to get back to winning ways," said Amla.
"There are no freebies in Test cricket. You want to make an impact and you want to win. It's very important for us to go at least 2-1, salvage some pride from the series.
"We came to India almost two-and-half months ago and we had a largely successful tour in terms of winning the Twenty20 and the one-dayers. It would be nice to cap off the tour with a victory."
India captain Virat Kohli has his sights set on wrapping up a 3-0 win in the series.
"If you talk about mindset, we want to be ruthless," the 27-year-old said ahead of his first match as Test captain at his home ground.
"We are not satisfied with 2-0. If we have a chance to go 3-0 up, we'd try and go 3-0 up and give our 100 per cent."
Kohli revealed India will select their strongest available team, adding: "We are not going to field someone just because we are 2-0 up. At this stage, there is not much room for experiments.
"We are very confident. We have no issues in the team, regarding our confidence, ability or fitness.
"Whether the match lasts three days, four days or five days, our aim would be to win it."
