Days after Abhishek Sharma scored the second fastest fifty by an Indian batter in T20Is with his 14-ball fifty against New Zealand in the third T20I against New Zealand at Guwahati, all-rounder Shivam Dube smashed the third-fastest half-century by an Indian batsman with his 15-ball fifty against New Zealand in the fourth T20I at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Dube had come to bat at the number six spot and played a 23-ball knock of 65 runs with the knock being his fifth half-century in T20Is in his career. Even though India lost the match by 50 runs, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar hailed Dube’s knock and termed his record as ‘remarkable’.
“I thought he grabbed the opportunity really well. As you said, when you bat at six or seven, you’re probably getting three or four overs with a strong Indian batting line-up. But this time India lost early wickets, and he had to come in sooner. He showed intent from the very first ball — that first-ball six was one of the longest you’ll see, right into the second tier. When you strike a shot like that early, your confidence soars. He knows that if he connects, the ball is going into the stands because he’s got that power, the swing, and the timing. It ended up being the third-fastest fifty for India, which is remarkable — you’re talking about Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Sharma, and now Shivam Dube,” said Gavaskar while speaking on Star Sports.
Dube, who had made his T20I debut in 2019, has so far played in 54 T20Is matches for India apart from four ODIS. In T20Is, Dube has scored 749 runs with his knock of 65 runs on Wednesday being his highest in his T2OI career. Dube’s runs in T20Is have come at an average of 28.80 and at a strike rate of 149.20. In his T20I career, Dube has picked up a total of 26 wickets at an average of 27.23. In last year’s Asia cup, Dube scored 50 runs and took five wickets in six matches including his knock of 33 runs in a tense chase against Pakistan in the final. Gavaskar sees Dube’s knock on Wednesday as a knock which will install the belief to build an innings in T20Is and also to finish the job for India in pressure situations. “The fact that he can also bowl a couple of overs makes him such a valuable player. And having come in earlier, he won’t see himself only as a finisher anymore. He’ll believe he can build an innings and finish it too, especially in pressure situations,” added Gavaskar.
India had won the first three T20Is in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand before New Zealand won the fourth ODI by 50 runs. Chasing a target of 216 runs, India were bundled out for a total of 165 runs. India had played six batsmen in the match including Dube and opted for five bowlers in the match with Ravi Bishnoi playing along with Kuldeep Yadav as frontline spinner.
Indian captain Surya Kumar Yadav spoke about the team’s strategy post the loss against New Zealand in the fourth T20I. “We purposely played six batters. Wanted to have five bowlers and challenge ourselves. We wanted to play the players who were part of the World Cup squad, otherwise we would have played other players. We have been batting well batting first. Wanted us to see how we bat when two or three down while chasing 180-200. With heavy dew, one or two partnerships like Dube batted, one partnership could have made a difference.” Yadav said post the loss.