South Africa pace spearhead Dale Steyn, who has retired from Test cricket on Monday, expressed his love for the red-ball game saying that he enjoyed every second of the format.

The 36-year-old, who made his Test debut against England in 2004, scalped 439 wickets in 93 matches and is South Africa’s all-time highest wicket-taker in the format. Internationally in Tests, Steyn is at the 8th spot in the wicket-takers list.

Steyn’s Test career was cut short due to a spate of injuries since December 2015. The bowler suffered an injury during South Africa’s tour of Australia in late 2016 and returned to the format in early 2018 when India toured the African nation. He, however, sustained a foot injury in the series and made a comeback during the 2018-19 home season; versus Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Later, Steyn earned a place in the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) squad during Indian Premier League 2019 edition. He featured in only two games to return home with a shoulder injury and later was ruled out of the World Cup.

On Wednesday, the speedster posted an emotional message on social media app Instagram where he expressed gratitude to all those who congratulated him after he announced his retirement from Test cricket.

“What a ride. Just a quick thank you to everyone for the kind messages over the last two days. Simply blown away by all the people who have messaged/congratulated me. Thank you,” wrote Steyn.

“What does one say when they retire? I don’t really know how to sum up almost 15 years of red ball throwing, to be honest it’s actually impossible to even try. What I can say is that I’ve loved every second of it, from the best to the worst days, it’s been awesome! Maybe I’ll try jot it down in a book one day, so I guess you’ll have to wait till then.”

“Here’s to a few more years of white ball though, apparently that 20/20 stuff is pretty fun,” added an emotional Syen.

Here is the post:

 

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What a ride. Just a quick thank you to everyone for the kind messages over the last two days. Simply blown away by all the people who have messaged/congratulated me. Thank you 🙏🏼 What does one say when they retire? I don’t really know how to sum up almost 15 years of red ball throwing, to be honest it’s actually impossible to even try. What I can say is that I’ve loved every second of it, from the best to the worst days, it’s been awesome! Maybe I’ll try jot it down in a book one day, so I guess you’ll have to wait till then. Here’s to a few more years of white ball though, apparently that 20/20 stuff is pretty fun… ✌🏼

A post shared by 🔘 (@dalesteyn) on Aug 7, 2019 at 8:05am PDT

It is to note that Steyn will continue to play ODI and T20 cricket.

(With inputs from IANS)