People in India make cricket amazing and different: Dale Steyn

South Africa pacer Dale Steyn announced retirement from all forms of the game earlier this week. He was one of the best ever bowlers to have ever played the game for the last 18 years. He also showcased his skills in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years featuring for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in his previous which turned out to be his last stint.

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Steyn played in the IPL since its inception in 2008 and featured in a whopping 95 matches picking up 97 wickets while being extremely economical as well. No wonder he was a fan favourite in India as well and the cricketer has now narrated the experience of playing in the country.

According to him, it is the fans in India who make the sport amazing with all their love. "It was a long time and there are memories to last a lifetime. Just silly things like leaving practice and trying to get onto the bus, or arriving at an airport and being completely mobbed by people.

"Cricket is cricket, you can play a competitive game on the weekend against a good player, you know, and you can get that same sense of feeling in a club game, but in India, it’s the people that make it so amazing and different," Steyn said according to RMS Global Advisory's website.

Opening up more about playing in India, Steyn iterated that there are all kinds of pressure on and off the field and that is what helps a cricketer in the long term. "Your skill-set is to play cricket but there you find yourself dealing with pictures, and press and people critiquing you for the way you dress and your hairstyle rather than the way you bowl your slower ball," Steyn added.