For hardcore Royal Challengers Bangalore fans, Friday would have been an emotional day.
It marked the return of a player who had played for them for the first three years of the IPL and was probably their most modern star in a galaxy of legends.
Dale Steyn was back and when he ran into bowl, the lips were licking again. The smooth run-up, the jump, the left-arm going parallel to the right and then the release. A trademark outswinger followed, only for it to be dropped at first slip. A grimace might have been the answer to that from a younger version of Steyn, but instead, a big, beaming smile came up and you could understand why.
In the last few years, he has endured circumstances far worse than grassed catches, for him to show any form of anger.
That Friday night as he ran into bowl, Steyn might have felt no pressure thanks to what had happened earlier in the innings.
A Virat Kohli special, combined with an equally sublime 66 from Moeen Ali had catapulted RCB to 213 for 4, a total that would be match-winning on most days like it was that day, but only just.
For supporters of the franchise that day, there is a chance that nostalgia might have kicked in.
11 years ago, when the IPL began and nobody knew what was to hit us, Steyn arrived at the RCB franchise as the top dog as far as fast bowlers in international cricket were concerned. He was fast, athletic and a genuine wicket-taking option at any stage of the game.
With him in the squad was an 18-year-old greenhorn, fresh off winning the biggest crown of his career at the time. Virat Kohli was different to every other cricketer who was part of that side that clinched the Under-19 World Cup at Kuala Lumpur and now he was sharing space with Steyn.
Surely, he would have looked at him and gone, “ Man, who’s this man and how’s he bowling the way he is.” You couldn’t have blamed him if he was in awe of this superstar, who had hit Indian shores.
Now, as Steyn returns to RCB, you wouldn’t blame him if he looked at Kohli in awe. In the way, he cover drives, the way he takes on the best bowlers in the business, it must leave him a touch mesmerised.
Now, while Steyn may not be as young as Kohli was when they first met in 2008, one must not forget that the fast bowler is currently enjoying what seems like a fulfilling second wind to his career.
In white-ball cricket, Steyn hasn’t looked this good for a very long time and it is almost as if he is now looking up to Kohli and getting the same vibe, but of the opposite kind. “Man, how do you play that shot at that speed?”
In 2008, Kohli was part of the supporting cast while Steyn was the man of the hour, the one RCB wanted to deliver consistently.
In 2019, Kohli is that man which Steyn was and the RCB are hoping that he can come in and balm a fractured season with his bowling and ensure they end on a high.
