Dale Steyn likely to miss game against Pakistan as well – Cricket news AB de Villiers, the South African skipper, has revealed that Dale Steyn’s chances of taking part in a Group B fixture of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 against Pakistan are very low and is pondering over the idea of playing two specialist spinners. The South African spearhead injured his side muscle during the warm-up game against Pakistan earlier this month, which ruled him out of the opening fixture of the tournament against India at Cardiff. Pakistan and South Africa will be up against each other today at Birmingham in an extremely crucial encounter as the loser of this game would be effectively out of the contention to qualify for the semi-finals. The wicketkeeper/batsman is not too optimistic about Steyn’s chances of playing against Pakistan; however, the final decision will be taken on the morning of the match. “It's not looking good,” de Villers said. “The chances are that Steyn will only be ready for the last group game. We're still hanging on to that last little bit of hope that he could wake up in the morning and do a bit of a fitness test and look good for the game, but it's not looking good at all.” Apart from Steyn, the Proteas have also lost the services of Morne Morkel for the mega event, which has weakened South Africa’s bowling line-up. The Proteas’ skipper further added that the team management is considering playing both the specialist spinners, Robin Peterson and Aaron Phangiso. However, they are not too different from each other, which may stop the Proteas to take this decision. “Playing two spinners is not a bad option. But looking at the spinners in our squad - Aaron Phangiso and Peterson - they're very similar kind of bowlers. They are both left-arm, so it doesn't give us a lot of variation,” he added. South Africa’s two most senior cricketers, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, are also not available for this tournament and their absence has surely minimised their team’s chances of delivering the goods. The Proteas are heavily depending on the likes of Hashim Amla and De Villiers to perform well, if they are to beat Pakistan.
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