South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn will renew his bid to become the country's greatest wicket-taker in Test cricket when they meet Pakistan in the first match of a three-game series at Centurion Park in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Steyn is level with former allrounder Shaun Pollock on 421 Test wickets and, having played only six Tests in the past three years due to injury, has been left tantalisingly close to capturing the outright top spot on the list for some time.

The Proteas are carrying injuries to seam bowlers Vernon Philander and Lungi Ngidi, meaning Steyn is likely to share the new ball with Kagiso Rabada on what is expected to be a lively wicket in Pretoria.

Steyn, who is also targeting next year's 50-over World Cup in the UK, returned to form against Australia in November's Gillette ODI Series.

'Crazy eyes' Steyn on fast bowling love

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis hailed Steyn as the country’s greatest fast bowler this week, suggesting he still had a good few years of Test cricket in him.

“Test matches are what really drives me to perform,” Steyn recently told South African online publication Sport24.

“If I can carry on playing test cricket for as long as possible that will be great. There is plenty of T20 cricket going on at the moment because that is where the money is at but I think that people will always know that Test cricket is the real deal. I love the red-ball game.”

Steyn stuns Aussies with double blow

Coach Ottis Gibson and du Plessis are yet to decide if South Africa will play three seamers, with Duanne Olivier in line for a sixth Test appearance, plus spinner Keshav Maharaj, allowing them to field an extra batsman, or hand a first cap to Dane Paterson.

The latter option would give the team a long tail with Rabada having to bat at number seven.

The Proteas were boosted by the return to form of Hashim Amla in domestic four-day cricket this week but he has managed just one score above fifty in his past 12 Test innings.

Amla has an excellent record against Pakistan, with two hundreds and eight fifties in 21 innings, and averages an incredible 75.58 at the Centurion ground from 18 innings.

Pakistan, seeking only their second ever Test series win against South Africa, were buoyed by hundreds to Azhar Ali and Babar Azam in their three-day warm-up match.

However, leading seamer Mohammad Abbas – the bowler who caused havoc for the Australians in the UAE in October – is only rated 50-50 to play as he battles a shoulder injury.