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Shivam Dube’s big hitting gives India a crucial boost
Shivam Dube's impact role in the middle overs is CSK’s gift to the Indian team. There’s no stopping him now
Mitchell Santner was checking out Shivam Dube’s biceps when the two teams lined up for handshakes after the match. Dube’s muscle power wasn’t enough to lift India to a win here, but with more luck — he was run out at the non-striker’s end on 65 (23b) — it might have been.
Having played together for CSK in IPL, Santner knew all about Dube’s clean striking. And Santner, left-arm orthodox spinner, to Dube, left-handed batter, was a match-up that most teams would look to avoid.
Some find decision-making based on match-ups to be trite. And there is some merit in that argument. Whether a bowler should shy away from a batter or offer him the bait depends on the extent of the unfavourable match-up. A classic case of human instinct meshing with data points to arrive at a decision.
Santner, the New Zealand skipper, didn’t take long to take himself off the attack when Dube entered the stage. If there was any doubt about the unfavourable match-up, Dube settled the matter with a first-ball maximum to a slot ball from the bowler.
Dube had walked in at the fall of Hardik Pandya’s — Santner’s current IPL captain — wicket. The left-arm spinner had coaxed Hardik into playing a false shot. By now, these players have spent so much time together in the IPL that they can second-guess each other comfortably on the international stage.
Even with India’s asking rate having climbed to 13 in the 9th over, Santner didn’t take a chance with Dube. First, he brought on Glenn Philips, the off-spinner, to bowl to left-handers Dube and Rinku Singh, then he brought in Zak Foulkes’ medium pace. Until he gave in to try out Ish Sodhi’s leg-spin. It turned out to be a decision that threatened to destroy the balance of the match. Dube took a toll with 29 runs, and suddenly India had hope.
Playing the percentages, Sodhi may have tried to be more aggressive with variations, and Santner tried to find a reason. “When you flip it to Dube, he’s very clear about what he wants to do,” Santner said. “When the spinner comes on, he knows that’s a good match-up for him, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the first ball or his 20th ball, he’s going to try to take it on.”
In a batting line-up loaded with big hitters up top, Dube is proving to be a crucial power booster in the middle overs. He can hit as cleanly as Abhishek Sharma and swing even harder. An out-and-out spin hitter, Dube is also a much-improved force against fast bowling. In the over after he took down Sodhi, Dube smacked two powerful sixes against Jacob Duffy too. “There are many things people upgrade, all players do. Teams upgrade themselves, too. For me, it’s very important. I can’t be the same as I was before. I try to be a little better, a little smarter in the next game I play,” Dube said. “I’ve learned how to understand my strengths and where I can target them. It’s about match-ups. They want me to hit spinners. That’s my role, to keep the strike rate high in the middle overs. But I try to do that against fast bowlers as well. I know where my strength lies and how I can put pressure on the opposition. My mindset is very clear there.”
His 27 off 16 in the 2024 T20 World Cup final ranks among one of the southpaw’s many underrated cameos. Dube has always possessed a clean left-handers’ bat swing; his unique impact role as a floater against spin is CSK’s gift to Indian cricket. Crafting a niche for himself in a gamut of stars, the World Cup stage is now entirely his, to make taller contributions, more muscular, to take India past the finish line.
Improved bowler
Even with the ball, the allrounder has been improving steadily. Dube has filled in ably in Hardik’s absence. In last year’s Asia Cup, where the pitches were more conducive to spin, he shared an equal bowling workload with Hardik when India played a pacer less. Delivering as a middle overs enforcer by hitting the pitch hard and using his mix-ups, Dube adds to his utility quotient. “I am bowling thanks to Gauti bhai and Surya (coach and captain), they’ve given me the opportunity. When you bowl, you become a little smarter,” he said. “I am working hard and trying to develop more skills.”
Between him and bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana, India has the option of using one. With show-stopping performances like his 15-ball fifty here and his versatility, Dube is making himself undroppable; the second-best pace all-rounder to Hardik, and that’s already an achievement.
