Before the selection of the 15 members of the Indian team for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, the speculation was whether the inaugural champions of the team would add Shivam Dube to the side, given his lack of bowling as an all-rounder even after a couple of successful seasons in the middle order with the bat for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The Mumbai-born has hardly bowled in the recently concluded season of the competition. But when it comes to his batting in the middle order, especially against the spinners, Shivam Dube has displayed his power and quite bizarre but successful technique of going after the slow bowlers from the very first ball.
He also offers the dynamic option of having a right-left combination, which generally makes it tough for the opponent captains to use his bowling resources.
‘Shivam Dube can be awkward in the right conditions’ – CSK head coach
It’s quite weird to think that Dube would be the option of bowling four-overs for his side, but what he could do is roll his arms at least for a couple of overs in the middle phase, if the other bowlers have been treated all around the park.
If the surfaces are a little slow, and help the bowlers with the variations, then Dube’s off-cutters and various styles of bowling could be hard for the batters to smash, especially if the boundaries are a little bigger.
Dube came to the limelight after a successful season of the IPL with the Super Kings where he helped them win their fifth title of the competition, with 418 runs in 16 innings at an average of 38 and a strike rate of 158.33, besides celebrating three half-centuries. The biggest improvement in his batting was nailing those big sixes, as he drilled 35 over-boundaries during IPL 2023.
But the question was always on how much he could bowl. With India already having Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja in the side, and perhaps a potential position for Axar Patel in the playing eleven, how much do they need Shivam Dube, or could they go with an extra batter like Sanju Samson?
The Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming says that Dube has been working hard for his bowling throughout the IPL and it was actually the impact player rule that destroyed the role of an all-rounder.
“Well, if he is bowling the way he talks about it, he is like Kapil Dev. He has been working really hard, he worked hard through the IPL. We had a number of players that could do the all-round role, and again, with the impact player role, it actually diminishes the role of an all-rounder or a part-time all-rounder who bats well, which is a bit of a shame,” Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming responded during a chat with the ESPNcricinfo.
The former New Zealand opener feels that Shivam Dube could use his cutters in slow conditions, and could be awkward in the right conditions in this format of the game.
‘He is bowling, he has had his loads up, he can be awkward in the right conditions, which you say would be a little bit slow, where his cutters and change of pace could play a part. He could do a job, and he has worked very hard on it,” the former Kiwi captain remarked in the same discussion.
Dube had a little downfall in this season where he managed 396 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 162.30, with only 28 sixes, which is quite low compared to his last season. In all the T20s in this year, the all-rounder has picked only three wickets in bowling just eight overs, at an economy of 10.50.
Shivam Dube could be in action, if India pick him during their season opener against Ireland on June 05, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York.
