South African vice-captain AB de Villiers ahs said that his teammate and fast bowler Dale Steyn was left distressed after being heavily criticised by his own fans for opting against chasing victory in the drawn first Test against India.
The hosts finished eight runs short of a world record target of 458 as they cautiously played out the final three overs at the Wanderers on Sunday, settling for a draw with three wickets in hand, although a win would have comfortably eclipsed the current world record of 418 runs chased down by West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
According to Sport24, Steyn was at the crease with Vernon Philander and was seen instructing him to be cautious, which led to the duo being booed by their own supporters despite salvaging an excellent draw from a game that India dominated for the first four days, and De Villiers revealed that Steyn struggled to handle the booing as he was upset.
De Villiers, who leads the limited-overs team, further said that he took captain Graeme Smith and a few other players to help Steyn handle the fans' sledging, adding that both Steyn and Philander took a lot of strain and had a tough time pulling through that period.
De Villiers, who made 103 in a 205-run stand with Du Plessis (134) to set up the chance for an unlikely victory, reassured Steyn that he made the right decision, saying that he believes that the tailenders should never be going for the runs, which is job of the top-order.
