South African pace bowler Dale Steyn is unlikely to bowl again in the first Test with India and could be out for four to six weeks after sustaining “significant damage” to the tissue of his left heel.

Steyn was sent for scans on a bruised heel on day two of the Test between South Africa and India at Newlands, which marked his first appearance in the longest format since November 2016.

Steyn who took the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan on day one and then trapped Wriddhiman Saha lbw for a duck on Saturday to move him two dismissals behind Shaun Pollock, South Africa’s leading Test wicket-taker with 421.

But he may not even surpass the fellow Proteas legend in this series after Cricket South Africa confirmed the severity of the injury.

With the three-match series set to come to an end on January 28, a four-week absence would see Steyn miss the rest of the Tests. Six one-day matches and three Twenty20 contests follow the Tests.