Big blow to South Africa! Dale Steyn ruled out for World Cup opener

South Africa faces a major mishap as their main pacer Dale Steyn was on Tuesday ruled out of their campaign opener against the host England on Thursday. The 35 year old veteran injured his soulder during the IPL 2019 and will not be risked at the Oval.

South African coach Ottis Gibson also confirmed that he is not fully fit to take the field in their first match against England.

“ He is not quite ready yet, not far away but not ready,” said head coach Ottis Gibson.

“We think with a six week tournament there’s no real need to force the issue just now. He wont be their for the first game. We’ve still got 14 others so we’ll chose from them.”

Former South African captain Graeme Smith was not shocked to hear about Steyns injury and him missing out the first game, as the fast bowler did not feature in any of the warm up games. He also said that South African team will try its best to get Steyn back before the clash against India.

Dale Steyn has not been as effective as he used to be previously, especially after being pulled out of RCB’s IPL campaign in late April, where he played only two games.