‘I got him out probably 16 times’ – Dale Steyn names Mohammad Hafeez as batter he’d love to bowl at

‘I got him out probably 16 times’ – Dale Steyn names Mohammad Hafeez as batter he’d love to bowl at (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Dale Steyn has identified Mohammad Hafeez as the batter he would most enjoy bowling at in international cricket. The South African fast bowler reflected on his career matchups against the Pakistani batsman, highlighting a particularly successful head-to-head record between the two players across their international encounters.

When asked which batter he would still love to bowl at, Steyn named Hafeez without hesitation. The dismissal record between the two players spans multiple formats and years of international competition. Steyn faced Hafeez on 28 occasions in international matches, with the bowler claiming 15 dismissals according to verified records from November 2013. Of those dismissals, seven came as catches to the wicketkeeper or slip fielders, while in ten of those innings Hafeez failed to reach double figures.

“Probably Mohammad Hafeez, whom I got out probably 16 times. I will just take his name because I got him out,” Steyn said in an interview with Vernon Philander as quoted by NDTV Sports.

The first encounter between Steyn and Hafeez in international cricket occurred on January 26, 2007, during a Test match in Cape Town. Steyn claimed his first dismissal of Hafeez in the second innings of that match. The rivalry that developed between the two players over subsequent years demonstrated Steyn’s consistent ability to trouble the Pakistani batter across different conditions and match situations.

Recently, the pace great, who has also played in the IPL, where Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is currently making waves, said the young batter could go on to achieve even greater things than stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli by the time he ends his career.

“Sooryavanshi is a different gravy, man! He’s better than most international players right now. He is a boy wonder, somebody who is a treasure for Indian cricket,” said Steyn.

Sooryavanshi enjoyed a stellar IPL 2026 campaign, scoring 776 runs to claim the Orange Cap, and was subsequently named in India’s T20I squad for the tour of Ireland and England.

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