After finally breaking the ICC T20 World Cup door, Mumbai’s explosive seam-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube admitted to having sleepless nights in the lead up to Tuesday’s unveiling of the 15-member Indian squad for the cricket spectacle in the US and the West Indies next month.
Dube’s inclusion in the Rohit Sharma-led squad signals his meteoric rise in the shortest format over the past 14 months, especially after he reinvented himself as a spin-hitter and played a major part in Chennai Super Kings’ fifth title triumph last season with an overall tally of 418 runs, inclusive of 22 sixes, the most by any batter in the 2023 IPL season.
The 30-year-old’s prolific show with the bat eventually paved his return to the national team after a three-year hiatus when he was picked for the three T20I series against Afghanistan in January 2024. He struck unbeaten half-centuries back-to-back (60* and 63*) and was named Player of the Series for his 124 runs in the home series. He also picked two wickets from seven overs across the three games.
“When I got picked for the Afghanistan series, Rohit (Sharma, captain) bhai told me I will (get a chance to) bowl and bat too. He said, ‘just show us what you can do.’ If the captain comes up and tells you we want to see you do this, you just express yourself. I felt ‘I’m now playing’, so my only thought was how can I perform and make the team win,” Dube said while recalling the moment of his national team comeback.
The Afghanistan series was in a way the final international assignment in the shortest format for India, and Dube knew he had to continue his glorious run in the IPL 2024 to stand a chance for the T20 World Cup squad.
In IPL 2024, he has continued in the same vein so far, and is currently third (26) on the six-hitters list, behind Heinrich Klaasen (28) and Abhishek Sharma (27). Elaborating on his batting transformation, Dube credited the CSK management for fine-tuning his six-hitting skills and successfully extracting his full potential.
“When I came into the CSK setup, Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai and (Stephen) Fleming told me that you have to hit. But they’ve never said it has to be from the first ball. Even they know doing that can be risky. It was at the back of my mind that if they have the faith in me, why should I take undue risks in my first 10 balls?
“That plan was, yes, I’m hitting (big) now, but how can I do it right through? Mentally, I prepared myself to see what my approach should be if a bowler bowls a particular ball. It took some time for me to apply this, but I’m set now. I watch the ball really well, and as it hits the bat, I get the feel that it’s gone, it’s done, it’ll go for six and go long. Special thanks to CSK. They brought me up their way and it has worked for me,” he said.
While the Impact Player rule has somehow reduced the demand for Dube’s seam bowling in the CSK set-up, due to which he will be fairly untested in that department heading into the World Cup, his recent outings in India colours presented a trailer of how his bowling could lend the balance in the one-dimensional Indian top order.
Dube’s clean hitting abilities have drawn comparisons with India’s white-ball legend Yuvraj Singh from some quarters. He chuckled at the suggestion, but expected himself to develop the same kind of consistency to go with his six-hitting ability.
“Yes, there is some resemblance to Yuvraj Singh. It feels nice when people liken my batting to his. If I can also perform like him, it’ll be nice. When I came into the Indian team, Ravi (Shastri, then head coach) bhai told me ‘you hit sixes like Yuvraj Singh,’” he said.
“From watching (Yuvraj_ bat, I’ve learnt even if he wouldn’t hit off the first seven-eight balls, he covered it up towards the end. I’ve learnt that and prepared mentally for it too. If people think I can do this (bat like him), maybe I really can. Why not? It’s important to apply the right things at the right time,” he added.