Indian cricket’s rising star Shivam Mavi recently disclosed the details of the conversation he had with his idol Dale Steyn during the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. Steyn was the coach of the SunRisers Hyderabad team, but he interacted with players of other teams after the matches. One of the players with whom he interacted was Mavi.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants fought an intense bidding war at the mega auction for the services of Shivam Mavi. Eventually, KKR emerged victorious with a bid of 7.25 crore. Unfortunately though, injury issues did not allow Mavi to play to his full potential. He had a forgettable IPL season, where he was out of the playing XI in many games.
Mavi was struggling with injury issues as he could not find his rhythm in IPL 2022. In an interview with Sportskeeda Cricket, Mavi shared what Steyn told him and said:
“I shared things with him, and talked about the [injury] issues, he said “It’s OK, these things happen. You just need to focus on the things that’ll help you move forward”. He also said, “Just keep bowling fast, you’ll 100 percent play for India”. He told a lot of things on the mental aspect as well so it was a really good learning experience.”
Shivam Mavi says it was his dream to meet Dale Steyn since childhood
In the same interview, Mavi said that it was his childhood dream to meet Dale Steyn one day. The former South African cricket team fast bowler is reckoned by many as one of the greatest pacers of all time. He announced his retirement last year and became a coach in the IPL this year.
Shivam Mavi will be keen to improve his fitness ahead of the next IPL season. Since KKR bought him for a massive amount, they may give him one more chance to prove himself.
