Image courtesy of: Herald Sun

Steyn is currently the top ranked Test bowler in international cricket

Back in the day, South Africa bowling coach Allan Donald could have dismissed any batsman in the game, but the former pace bowler believes that if he were to be able to turn back the clock and have Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel by his side, they would have formed the greatest pace trio in cricket history.

“I wish I did,” Donald said. “If I were to bowl with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, we would have formed the most prolific attack.

“Working with them is unbelievably special. They are, at the moment, and hopefully for a long time to come, will remain the best fast bowling pair in the world.”

In Donald’s mind, Steyn thoroughly deserves to be the top pace bowler in international cricket right now since he is always hungry for wickets and success and is constantly looking for ways to improve his bowling.

“I’ve always been a massive Dale Steyn fan,” Donald said. “Dale, for me, is like a racehorse. He’s gracious and has the most fluent, uncomplicated and clean action. Not for nothing he is the world’s best fast bowler. I just love what he brings to the game and I love what he does for South Africa.”

Donald, who was appointed as coach of the Pune Warriors Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise this year, also believes he has spotted some great potential in Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

“I saw this last year when I was the bowling coach of the team that Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not someone who’s going to bowl at 150kmph,” Donald said. “Where he’s very smart is that he has sorted his game out and he swings the ball both ways.

“Sometimes, he gets a bit too floaty. But he is learning how to make adjustments with his lengths and keep varying it. I read somewhere that maybe it’s time to leave him out for a while and give someone else a chance. But when you’ve got so much skill and talent, you don’t sit out. It’s just the matter of us giving them a bit of backing and faith.”