Rising in stature in white-ball cricket, Mumbai all-rounder has been rewarded with India call for the T20Is against Bangladesh.
Shivam Dube’s sense of timing extends beyond ensuring that his powerful hits often end in monstrous sixes. It is not just how he hits those sixes, but also when he hits them. No, we aren’t talking match situation here; Dube seems to have some sense of the big occasion.
The afternoon before the IPL auction last December, he walloped five successive sixes in a Ranji Trophy match at Wankhede Stadium. Coincidentally, or more likely not, he went for Rs 5 crore to Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore. That he got all of four matches in IPL 2019 is another matter.
The 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy was played in the lead-up to the India team selection for the Bangladesh series. And earlier this month, Dube walloped 10 sixes in an incredible 118 off 67 deliveries against eventual finalists Karnataka. He walked in at 104/4 in a chase of 313 and almost took Mumbai home in the company of the tail.
When chief selector MSK Prasad announced the T20I team yesterday, Dube was relaxing for once at home after a month-long Vijay Hazare campaign in Bangalore. For someone who had given up the sport for four years in his teens due to financial reasons, he hadn’t entertained international ambitions until recently.
Prasad said the 26-year old’s performances for India ‘A’ had been “phenomenal.” “In T20Is we had (the currently unfit) Hardik Pandya. Then we tried Vijay Shankar and we all felt that Shivam Dube fits perfectly for the role,” Prasad said.
“I was expecting a call. I was sure of my selection. I felt that my performance was good, so I would be in (the team),” Dube said yesterday.
Current Mumbai coach Vinayak Samant was the U-23 coach when Dube was part of the agegroup side. Dube was powerfully built and could clear the boundary easily even then. But what has stood out for Samant since is the progress he has made as a first-class batsman and as a bowler.
“He was a very good white-ball player even at the U-23 level. But when he came to senior level, he was much improved even in redball cricket. He has worked hard on his fitness and needs to keep doing that,” Samant said.
Dube gets good bounce from his natural backof-a-length but bowls in the mid-120s, and once asked Hardik Pandya how he was able to bowl 135-plus. The Baroda all-rounder advised him to work harder on his fitness.
Shitanshu Kotak, the former Saurashtra batsman and Dube’s India A coach, also rates his bowling skills. “He has wicket-taking abilities. He looks deceptive but moves the ball both ways,” Kotak said.
In his domestic career so far, Dube has shown the maturity to temper his aggressive game and go into defensive mode when the situation demands it. What grabs attention, of course, are those straight sixes, the backlift, bat-swing and followthrough reminiscent of Yuvraj Singh.
“His range is straight, or long-on, not much through midwicket. Because of his strength, his bat-speed remains good and he drives and cuts well. His height gives him good reach,” Samant said.
“Basically, if it is in his range, he will clear the boundary,” Kotak said.  He has also developed his off-side play. From the Sri Lanka to the South Africa A series alone, he showed plenty of improvement.
Former India wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe was Mumbai coach when Dube made his Ranji debut in December 2017. “You saw him and you knew this was a batsman who could change the course of a game coming in at No 6 or 7.” Which is what Dube will be hoping to do against Bangladesh next month.
