South African fast bowler Dale Steyn announced his retirement from all formats of cricket on Tuesday.

He told ESPNcricinfo that his decision was prompted partly by the Covid-19 pandemic, and partly because, at 38, he is looking forward to “life starting again” after 18 years of professional cricket.

“I guess Covid-19 kind of made me see things differently, it wasn’t fun anymore. And if it’s not fun then it’s not worth doing,” Steyn said.

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“Bittersweet but grateful,” he wrote in his social media post, as he thanked his family and teammates as well as journalists, fans.

β€œIt’s been 20 years of training, matches, travel, wins, losses, strapped feet, jet lag, joy, and brotherhood. There are too many stories to tell. Too many faces to thank.”

“It’s been an incredible journey together,” he added.

Replying to the speedster, South African goat Ab Devilliars said: “Great player, great man, amazing memories! You picked a good song to sign off my bud. Legend forever!”

Steyn, South Africa’s highest Test wicket-taker with 439 strikes in 93 games, made his professional debut in 2003 in a first-class game for Northerns. He stepped away from the longest format two years ago, to concentrate on white-ball cricket. Since then, he has not played in any ODIs and only three T20Is, though he did have plans of playing in one more T20 World Cup.

Many cricketers and notables related with cricket wrote comments for the South African great.