Shivam Dube, the all-rounder made his India debut under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, to fill the shoes of a seam-bowling all-rounder. However, he was released by RCB ahead of the 14th season and was bought by Rajasthan Royals instead.
When Royal Challengers Bangalore picked Shivam Dube, big things were expected from the hard-hitting all-rounder. Shivam Dube had just hit five sixes in a row twice during a domestic tournament and RCB splashed ₹5 crores to secure his services.
The 27-year-old played two seasons for RCB and managed 15 games. But he did not impress his critics as he managed just 168 runs at an average of 16.90. Even his strike rate was a nominal 122.46 during his stay at Bangalore.
Shivam Dube Would Have Liked To Have Batted Higher Up The Order At No. 4 Or No. 5 For RCB
The all-rounder even made his India debut under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, to fill the shoes of a seam-bowling all-rounder. However, Shivam Dube was released by RCB ahead of the 14th season and was bought by Rajasthan Royals. He recalled his experience at RCB while stating that he would have liked to bat higher up the order.
“Definitely I would have liked to have batted higher up the order at No.4 or No.5 for RCB. But it is something that the captain and management decide according to what is better for the team. I didn’t have a bad season (IPL 2020) since it was not easy to consistently hit 2-3 sixes at the death and I was also bowling in the middle-overs.
“Releasing me was the choice of the franchise and I am okay with whatever they decided. I have the satisfaction that whenever I was called upon to bowl or bat, I did well for RCB,” Dube told Sportskeeda.
Shivam Dube has played 12 T20Is and 1 ODI for India. He scored 105 runs in T20Is averaging 17.5 and picked 5 scalps. He was wicketless in the only ODI he played where he scored 9 runs.
Shivam Dube: India Needs To Have One More All Rounder Apart From Hardik Pandya And Points Several Countries Play 2-3 All Rounders
Shivam Dube also talked about the need for one more all-rounder in the Indian team except for Hardik Pandya.
“You have Hardik Pandya, but you need to have one more all-rounder in the Indian team because getting a seaming all-rounder is always a difficult job. My job is to keep on performing and knocking on the door of the selectors.
“You see other countries playing 2-3 all-rounders because they always change the course of the game. I definitely feel I will be a part of the future Indian team. Playing more all-rounders will increase India’s chances of winning.”
Shivam Dube played 6 matches for RR in IPL 2021 and scored 145 runs at an average of 24.16 and with a strike rate of 117.88.
Among pace all-rounders, Vijay Shankar has a decent international experience so far with the Men in Blue. He has been part of 12 ODI matches and 9 T20I games. Much to everyone’s surprise, he was named in India’s squad for the 2019 WC, and ICC named him under five surprising picks of the tournament.
In 12 ODI matches, the batting all-rounder has stitched 223 runs at a strike rate of around 90 coming in the middle-order. He also has 9 scalps across both formats.