Fearless brand of cricket driven by cultural shift, not just talent: Dale Steyn

Dale Steyn credits a modern coaching and commentary shift for the fearless cricket played by young stars like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. By embracing failure and risk, the ecosystem has unlocked unprecedented player freedom and elevated the global game

New Delhi: South African pace great Dale Steyn believes the fearless brand of cricket displayed by today’s young stars is not merely a product of talent, but the result of a significant cultural shift in how the game is coached, analysed and discussed.

Speaking about the emergence of attacking young batters such as Dale Steyn credits a modern coaching and commentary shift for the fearless cricket played by young stars like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. By embracing failure and risk, the ecosystem has unlocked unprecedented player freedom and elevated the global game, Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs, Steyn said modern cricketers are benefiting from an environment that is far more accepting of failure than previous generations experienced.

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“We’re seeing a good combination of current coaches who are ex-players of the current game, are more understanding of failure. And in 2020, there’s a lot of failure. You know, you fail way more than you succeed. And every now and then you have one or two seasons where you blow the lights out and you do extremely well,” Steyn told IANS in an interaction facilitated by SA20 in the lead-up to Season 5.

According to Steyn, one of the biggest changes has been the willingness of coaches and commentators to embrace the game’s evolution rather than criticise players for taking risks.

“And we’re not sitting as commentators or as coaches sitting there saying, oh, we want to see the economy rates of bowlers coming down because the game is evolving. And I think that’s what commentators and coaches of yesteryear would have done, you know.

“That has allowed a fearless brand of cricket. Because a player is now not scared that if he plays a bad shot, he’s going to be abused on TV. Or he’s going to have a coach say to him, that was a bad shot. Whereas maybe, call it 10 years ago, that may have been the case,” he opined.

Steyn said this shift in mindset has created the freedom for young players to express themselves without fear of criticism

“We just understand that that’s the way that the game is evolving. And I think that is, again, that relationship between coaches, between commentators, between cricket pundits and the player has given players the freedom to express themselves and play the way that they want to play. It’s an open playing field right now,” he said.

The former fast bowler pointed to teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as an example of the confidence modern players now possess.

“That’s why we see guys like Sooryavanshi walking out there and first ball hitting it for six. If you cast your mind back 10 or 15 years ago, there weren’t many players that would do that. There was a handful of players that would do that. Sanath Jayasuriya may have been somebody that would do that as an opening batter? Maybe Virender Sehwag. But, you know, they were a novelty,” he mentioned.

Steyn believes young players are no longer judged as harshly for failing while playing aggressively, which has encouraged innovation across the game.

“It wasn’t an outlier. It wasn’t something that happened on a day-to-day basis. And if they did fail, they would say, oh, that’s the way that they play. But if a new player tried that, they would be abused. We don’t do that anymore,” he added.

The changing mindset is not limited to batters. Steyn explained that bowlers, too, have become more accepting of risk in pursuit of wickets rather than merely trying to contain runs.

“I think that relationship has really allowed a lot of players the freedom to breathe. They can just go, oh, okay, cool. I can go out there and do that. And that’s from a batting point of view. From a bowling point of view, bowlers are not scared of going for 20 runs an over or 15 runs an over. They are trying to take wickets. They are trying to break the game open. That is their main goal.

“If you go for 15 runs and over, take a wicket. And that’s cool. You know, there used to be a chain of thought that, oh, if I’m going at 10 and over, I’m getting smashed. No. If you’re bowling four overs for 40, you’ve done well. You’ve done incredibly well. Maybe try and pick up a couple wickets to really break the game open. But you’re doing incredibly well,” he expressed.

While discussing modern batting, Steyn also reserved special praise for Virat Kohli, citing the Indian star’s longevity and relentless desire to improve.

“Look, both. Let’s just hop on the latter right now, which is Virat Kohli. I think his ability to sustain, his mental approach to the game, stay fresh, and stay wanting to continue to perform says a lot about him. He’s got a lot of self-drive, which is something that I think all of us cricketers had in my era. That’s the only thing that we had. We just wanted to get better every single year,” he stated.

For Steyn, the evolution of cricket’s language, analysis and mindset has created an environment where players can push boundaries without fear, helping take the sport to new heights.

“So the thinking in terms of the game is gone. The language in terms of the game is gone. And the communication in terms of what we are telling the viewers, the spectators. Their understanding of the game has advanced. The information that you are feeding the spectators has advanced. So everybody now is living in a world where we’re just looking up. The possibilities are endless.

“And that allows players, I think, to perform to the best of their ability and take the game to new heights. And that’s making the game more exciting. That’s making the game worthy of watching it, whether it be on your couch at home or going to the ground to go and watch it. So everyone’s working together to see this game go and elevate to another level. I think we’re all on the right path right now,” Steyn concluded.