#OTD in 2004: AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn made their Test debut
Dale Steyn (Source: Twitter)
On this day, nineteen years ago, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn made their respective Test debuts for South Africa against England at Gqeberha.
Batting first, Proteas posted 337 on the board, but the visitors took the lead of 88 runs in the first innings. In response, the home side were all-out for 229, and England then won the game by seven wickets after successfully chasing 142.
AB started his red-ball career by scoring a total of 88 runs, while Steyn bagged three wickets in the entire fixture.
Legacy of AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn in the purest format
Also known as Mr. 360, De Villiers was arguably the finest batter to represent South Africa across all formats.
He registered his best Test knock of 278* against Pakistan in 2010. Despite being a T20 specialist, he garnered 8765 runs at a prolific average of 50.66 in the longest format.
On the other hand, Steyn held the numero uno position in the Test bowling charts for a record number of 2,343 days, which roughly amounts to 6.4 years.
His ability to swing the ball both ways at any point of time was a delight to watch for the cricket-watching audience.
He also became the fastest in terms of the balls taken to claim 400 wickets in the Tests. He finished his illustrious Test career with 439 scalps in 93 appearances, with 26 five-wicket hauls.
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