“An injury of this nature is rare and will in all likelihood require surgery”

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South Africa pace bowler Dale Steyn will play no further part in the ongoing three-Test series against Australia and could be out of action for six months after he was diagnosed with a “fracture of the bone in the shoulder joint”.

Steyn suffered the injury while bowling to Australia batsman Usman Khawaja in the 38th over and subsequently left the field after receiving treatment.

He ended up being sent to hospital for scans, which confirmed the severity of the injury he has sustained.

“Today while he was bowling he felt something thud or pop. He was taken to the hospital for preliminary scans which confirmed a new fracture of the bone in the shoulder joint,” South Africa team manager Mohammed Moosajee said. “He will take no further part in the match (he will bat if absolutely necessary) and the series, and will return to South Africa to see a shoulder specialist who will advise on an appropriate plan of action.”

Moosajee added that the 33-year-old is likely to undergo surgery, but only once they receive feedback from the shoulder specialist in South Africa.

“An injury of this nature is rare and will in all likelihood require surgery but that will only be confirmed once we receive an opinion from the specialist,” he said. “The estimated return date we will have to wait and see, the literature says six months, but we don’t know.”

The South African team manager also conceded that Steyn’s future in the sport was “up in the air”.

“Time will tell, but only when healing has occurred will we be able to make a call on whether he can come back and play,” he said. “Knowing the kind of person that he is, he will make every effort to get back onto the park. He has been through adversity before and knowing Dale he will come back much stronger.”

It is unclear whether the Proteas will call up a replacement for Steyn as they already have Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott in the squad, along with fellow seamers Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.