Dale Steyn says he is ‘two to three weeks’ away from an international comeback, targeting the third Test against Australia at Newlands on 22 March.

Steyn has been out of action since the first Test against India in January, when he injured his foot. And that was after a lengthy lay-off with a shoulder injury.

He told Radio KFM: ‘I’m looking at trying to get into the third Test, get back with the boys and everything like that.

‘It’s been a long time – shoulder, foot, all that kind of stuff. Watching the cricket and seeing some of the things that are happening on the field, I just want to get out there.’

Steyn, who is just two wickets short of equalling Shaun Pollock’s all-time South African Test tally of 421, will nevertheless have to prove himself to the selectors.

‘I’ve had a bit of an unlucky one with my foot. It seems like every injury I get is really bad.

‘I’m probably another two or three weeks away… I have to play one or two warm-up games. So hopefully everything goes according to plan, and by the end of next week, I should be back on the cricket field.’

To accomplish his plan, Steyn will have to play in the next Sunfoil Series match for the Titans against the Cobras at Newlands, starting 8 March. The next available match starts 15 March, when the Titans play the Knights in Benoni, but that would give him a break of just four days before the start of the third Test.

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