After watching South Africa win the World Test Championship against Australia, former Proteas pacer Dale Steyn had a bold prediction to offer for the Indian cricket team’s five-Test tour of England. He said that all five Tests would yield results rather than ending in draws with India losing out by a bare minimum — a 2-3 final scoreline.
When asked for his prediction for the India vs England series, Steyn told JioHotstar, “All games will be close. But all will have a result. I think it will be 3-2 in favour of England. There will be a result in every Test match. There will be no run away win for any team, all five games will be very close.”
England, under coach Brendon McCullum at home, have a record that certainly backs that prediction: in the 20 matches England have played under McCullum in England, they have won 15 while losing four. Just one game has ended in a draw. That’s a win rate of 75 percent.
Steyn applauds Proteas
Meanwhile, Steyn was full of praise for South Africa’s consistency and resilience after they managed to defy the naysayers and defeat Australia in the final of the World Test Championship.
“From the start of this World Test Championship cycle, South Africa knew they had to win a certain number of games to make it to the final — and they did that, winning seven in a row, regardless of the opposition. It doesn’t matter who you’re up against, anyone who’s played Test cricket will tell you that winning even a single Test match is never easy. To win seven consecutively, earn a spot in the final, and then go on to get over the line today — that’s absolutely huge,” he said. “These are two massive teams. They’ve been fierce rivals for years. Australia commands a lot of respect from every South African cricketer for all that they’ve achieved, especially their world titles. So South Africa knew this was going to be one of their toughest tests.”
