 "Shivam Dube has scored 148 runs from four matches for CSK in IPL 2024. AP")
The race for spots in the India squad ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup is heating up with every passing game in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL 2024 is acting as a platform for the national selectors as to who takes the flight to the West Indies and USA for the showpiece event in June. All-rounder Shivam Dube has made a case for his selection with some fine knocks in the IPL. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cricketer scored an unbeaten 34 in the opening game of the season against RCB as well as a half-century against GT.
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And on Friday, Dube lit up the Uppal stadium in Hyderabad with a 24-ball knock of 45 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), hitting two fours and four sixes on a sluggish pitch where most CSK batters struggled. In the aftermath of his knock, the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag have backed the 30-year-old to seal his spot in the India squad for the T20 World Cup.
“Good to watch @IamShivamDube clearing the field with ease !! I feel he has to be in the World Cup squad . Has got the skill to be the #gamechanger #CSKvsSRH #IPLT20,” Yuvraj posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Sehwag feels Dube has put pressure on players like Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant to perform. “I said before the match that the way Shivam Dube has been playing, his ticket should be confirmed for the T20 World Cup. He has put a lot of pressure on players like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul and now they have to score consistent runs to make the World Cup squad. Take the players who are in-form,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Former New Zealand cricket-turned-commentator Simon Doull felt that the slow nature of pitches in West Indies will benefit Dube, but the right-arm medium pacer has to work on his bowling.
“I haven’t been down to the Caribbeans in the last 3-4 years , but very rarely do you see a hard, fast, bouncy surface. They are slowish in nature, takes a little bit of turn…that’s his game. And if he can continue to work on his bowling, he can turn out to be a genuine option,” Doull told on Cricbuzz.
Michael Vaughan, who was part of the same discussion that Doull was in, urged BCCI selection committee chairman to take “brave calls”. “This is where Ajit Agarkar can be brave. Whoever he picks, it will be a formidable team. I think it is the right time to be brave and pick a not-so-well-known names,” said the former England cricketer. Till date, Dube has played 21 T20Is for India and scored 276 runs and taken eight wickets. In the ongoing IPL Dube has scored 148 runs from four matches at a strike-rate of 160.87.