In the 2019 Vijay Hazare Trophy games played between Mumbai and Karnataka, Mumbai were in trouble at one point of time, 169 for 6 while chasing 313. Fast-forward the action by about 90 minutes and you would have noticed that Mumbai lost by only nine runs. Just one cricketer – Shivam Dube – was responsible for almost steering Mumbai to an improbable win.
His 118 came off a mere 67 deliveries, and it included as many as 10 sixes. Just peel past the surface more, and you would have discovered that most of those sixes came off one spinner – Shreyas Gopal. And almost all those sixes were smashed down the ground or through the midwicket region.
That anecdote says enough about Dube’s strengths. The left-hand batter uses his reach and power to club bowlers mostly down the ground or in the arc between wide long-on and deep square leg or even fine leg.
The second parameter would be to gauge his game while facing pace. Generally, the consensus is that he has a short-ball problem. To a large extent, that is true. He did show a degree of improvement in the 2022 and 2024 Indian Premier Leagues when his strike-rate against pace jumped up to 171.8 and 164.4, respectively. The upward curve was largely due to the fact that Dube tried pull shots rather than the agricultural hoicks across the line. As someone who is 6’4″ tall, he doesn’t really need to go back and across to crack the pull.
Unfortunately, despite having the required attributes for power-hitting, Dube’s strike-rate against pace hasn’t crossed 150 in five of the seven IPL seasons that he has been part of. On paper, Dube can also bowl a few overs of seam. However, he has only bagged five wickets in 79 IPL matches. For a tall and well-built cricketer, he doesn’t really snap his back hard to extract extra bounce with the ball.
Dube has also represented India in 35 T20Is. His numbers there too are quite modest. As someone who specialises in power-packed shots, his strike rate of 140.10 is on the lower side. On a brighter note, he played the supporting role in the T20 World Cup final last year. His unbeaten fifties against Afghanistan last year and the half-century that he essayed in the India-England match in Pune this year were also knocks of substance.
But, despite a few noteworthy performances for his country in the shortest format, Dube hasn’t exactly evolved as a cricketer. The India selectors, though, have decided to back Dube and selected him for the Asia Cup. The rationale behind that was to bring a sense of continuity to the set-up. But in the 15-member touring party, Dube’s selection seems like the odd one out. He, for one, would be looking to silence his doubters in the Asia Cup.
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