Steyn crowns Jansen the world's best — 85 runs, five wickets, and a few words for the Australians

Dale Steyn — 439 Test wickets, the most lethal fast bowler South Africa has ever produced — posted three words on X that detonated the cricket internet: "Marco Jansen is currently the best cricketer in the world."

Not Virat Kohli. Not Joe Root. Not Harry Brook, who Nasser Hussain had recently anointed as the best in the business. Not even Jasprit Bumrah or Travis Head. Steyn picked the 24-year-old left-arm giant who'd just scored 85 and taken 5-33 in the same Test match to dismantle Australia at Gqeberha.

Steyn wasn't fishing for engagement. He was issuing a verdict. And after what Jansen did in the second Test at St George's Park — an innings-and-34-run demolition that levelled the series 1-1 — it's becoming genuinely difficult to prove him wrong.

Rewind to day three at St George's Park, rain delays and all. South Africa were in trouble at one point, needing someone to wrestle the match away from an Australian attack that had them 1-0 down. Temba Bavuma produced a captain's 179, but it was Jansen's 85 lower down — belligerent, fearless, exactly the kind of batting that turns a good score into an unanswerable one — that stretched South Africa to 425/9 declared.

Then he picked up the ball. In 13.5 overs, Jansen ripped through Australia's top and middle order with 5-33. The world's No. 1-ranked Test team were 99 all out. Forced to follow on. Matt Renshaw, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne — Jansen went through them like they owed him money.

Australia fought harder in the second innings, Travis Head making 121, but it was never enough. South Africa won by an innings and 34 runs on day five. Series level. And Marco Jansen was standing in the middle of all of it.

Nasser Hussain's case for Harry Brook isn't frivolous. England's captain has been magnificent with the bat — centuries against everyone, the architect of Bazball 2.0, a run-machine who makes Test batting look like a video game.

But here's the problem with picking Brook over Jansen: Brook does one thing. He bats. Brilliantly, yes. Generationally, perhaps. But he bats.

Marco Jansen bats at No. 8 and scores 85 against the best pace attack in the world. Then he picks up the new ball and takes five wickets. He's a genuine all-rounder operating at the highest level on both sides of the scorecard, and the ICC rankings — where only Jadeja sits above him — reflect that dual threat.

Steyn's argument, stripped to its core, is simple: the best cricketer isn't the best batter. It's the player who changes matches with bat AND ball. And right now, nobody on earth is doing that more decisively than the 6-foot-8 left-armer from Johannesburg.

Jansen's match wasn't just about runs and wickets. It was about attitude — the kind that flirts with the edge of acceptable behaviour and dares the umpires to do something about it.

After dismissing Matt Renshaw and Beau Webster on day four, Jansen sent both batters off with words that made Renshaw visibly glance back over his shoulder. The celebrations were pointed. The language, by several accounts, was not PG.

Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct covers exactly this — language or gestures that disparage a batter on dismissal or could provoke an aggressive reaction. Reports suggest the match referee is reviewing the incidents. An official charge hasn't landed yet, but the scrutiny is real.

Steve Smith reportedly took issue with the celebrations. But when you've just been bowled out for 99 and forced to follow on, complaining about the other team's enthusiasm is a bold move. South Africa weren't just winning — they were making a point, and Jansen was the loudest voice in the argument.

This isn't the first time a South African legend has predicted Jansen's ascent. Former captain Graeme Smith said earlier this year that Jansen would become the best all-rounder in the world. At the time, it felt like patriotic optimism.

Now it feels like an understatement. In 22 Tests, Jansen has close to 100 wickets at an average around 21 and a batting record that would be respectable for a specialist No. 7. He's 24. The trajectory is terrifying for every team scheduled to face South Africa in the next decade.

The Cape Town decider starts October 27. If Jansen produces another match-defining all-round performance at Newlands to win the series, even Nasser Hussain might have to update his list.

Dale Steyn doesn't hand out compliments casually. When the most feared fast bowler of his generation tells you someone is the best cricketer in the world, it carries more weight than a pundit's talking point.

Harry Brook is a great batter. Marco Jansen is a great cricketer. There's a difference — and after 85 runs, 5-33, and an innings victory that levelled a series against the world's top-ranked side, Steyn's three-word verdict looks less like a hot take and more like a statement of fact.