Team India ended their three-match T20 series against Afghanistan. India won the series by a 3-0 margin. This was the last T20 series of Team India before the T20 World Cup. In that series, India played exceptionally well. But among all the players, Shivam Dube caught attention with his excellent all-round performance. After watching his performance, India’s legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin backed him for India’s T20 World Cup Squad:
Comeback to the Team and exceptional Performance:
Shivam Dube got a call-up for India almost after three years after making his debut in 2019. In those three years, he missed a lot of games. After the World Cup, India played a five-match T20 series. He didn’t name in the playing XI. He also missed the South Africa Tour. But when he got the chance in Afghanistan, he used the chance in the best way.
In the first T20 match, Shivam Dube was named in the playing XI. In that match, Dube played effortlessly. He remained unbeaten in 60 runs in 40 balls. He smashed 5 boundaries and 2 over-boundaries. That knock helped India to win the match. Even in the bowling, he bowled 2 overs. In those 2 overs, he conceded 9 runs and picked up 1 wicket.
In the second match, Dube kept his magic alive. In that match, he picked up 1 wicket after bowling 3 overs. While batting, he scored another half-century. In that match, he played an unbeaten knock of 63 runs in 32 balls with 5 boundaries and 4 over-boundaries. That was a phenomenal performance. Because of that exceptional performance, he was awarded Player of the Series.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s Words:
Impressed by Dube’s series performance, Ashwin, sharing his thoughts on his YouTube channel, suggested that the Mumbai cricketer would be a valuable addition to India’s batting lineup in the T20 World Cup. he said, “Hardik Pandya is a crucial member of this Indian team. However, the emergence of Shivam Dube… Just like how we divide ears into Before Christ and After Christ, we can divide his career into ‘before CSK’ and ‘after CSK’. In West Indies conditions, which are almost CSK conditions, he is a spin-hitting monster.”
Later he added, “I can proudly call him ‘Yuvraj Singh lite’ package. There are so many factoids about Yuvraj Singh that I could see in his game – the downswing, the height, and the reach. I am not saying that he is like Yuvraj Singh, just saying he reminds me a lot of him. The beauty here is that he hits spin straight down the ground.”
Ashwin imagined Dube in the playing XI, envisioning him batting alongside Suryakumar Yadav. On that matter, he said, “When Suryakumar Yadav is playing at one end, a team might try to suppress him by playing a left-arm spinner. When Shivam Dube is that the other end at this point, this is a great combination to have. The options that he gives to the team are tremendous. He can bowl two overs of his quota too,” Ashwin said. “He has proved that he can bowl cutters and has developed a back-of-the-hand slower delivery as well. It has just added worth in gold going into this World Cup.”
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