Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) young pacer Shivam Mavi's comments made South Africa pacer Dale Steyn emotional. Mavi called Steyn his idol and a huge inspiration in his cricket career which brought tears to the latter's eyes.

Mavi was superb with the ball against Punjab Kings (PBKS) as he picked up one wicket for just 13 runs in his 4 overs. Steyn saw Mavi's interview on ESPNCricinfo and he was overwhelmed by the words.

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“Ever since I began playing the sport, I used to follow Dale Steyn very closely. I used to bowl outswingers at the start and that’s why followed Steyn on how to bowl them. I follow what Bumrah and Bhuvi are doing but Steyn has also remained my idol,” Mavi had said.

Reacting to his interview, Steyn said he never expected to inspire someone from a different part of the world. “It’s amazing to be honest, almost brought tears to my eye. I never ever played this game expecting to have an impact on people at the opposite ends of the world,” he said.

Mavi got rid of Chris Gayle on a golden duck in their face-off and Steyn said he would love to help the youngster improve his fast bowling skills.

“I hope that he can just push on, these kinds of performances will get him into teams that he wants to play for like India, and maybe play a bigger role for KKR. I’d love to get in touch with him at some point,” he said.

(With EPSNCricinfo Inputs)