Shivam Dube has become one of the best finishers for India in recent times. After the match, Mitch Santner was checking the biceps of Dube when both teams lined up for a handshake. However, his muscle power wasn’t enough to win a game for India. Unfortunately, he was run out on the non-striker end on 65 (23 balls).
Santner is familiar with Dube as they’ve previously played together in CSK. That is why the New Zealand captain was hesitant to bowl to the left-handed batter. Because he knows that Dube is an excellent player of spin.
Shivan walked in to bat after the fall of Hardik Pandya’s wicket. Santner coaxed Hardik into playing a false shot. These players have spent so much time in IPL together that they can second-guess each other on the international stage as well.
In the 9th over, the asking rate climbed to 13 and Santner didn’ take any chances. He brought Glen Phillips, the off spinner, to bowl to left-handers as Rinku Singh was also on the crease. After that, he brought Ish Sodhi a couple of overs later, and Dube took 29 from that over. After that, India had hope of chasing this target down with Dube being in the middle.
Here is what Santner said about Sodhi over. “When you flip it to Dube, he’s very clear about what he wants to do,” Santner said. “When the spinner comes on, he knows that’s a good match-up for him, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the first ball or his 20th ball, he’s going to try to take it on.”
The Indian batting lineup is packed with some big hitters at the start. Dube is bringing a crucial power boost in the middle overs. He can hit the ball even harder than top-order batters like Abhishek Sharma. He was always good against spin bowling, but has improved his batting against fast bowlers too. In this game, he also scored two sixes off Jacob Duffy as well. “There are many things people upgrade, all players do. Teams upgrade themselves, too. For me, it’s very important. I can’t be the same as I was before. I try to be a little better, a little smarter in the next game I play,” Dube said. “I’ve learned how to understand my strengths and where I can target them. It’s about match-ups. They want me to hit spinners. That’s my role, to keep the strike rate high in the middle overs. But I try to do that against fast bowlers as well. I know where my strength lies and how I can put pressure on the opposition. My mindset is very clear there.”
His 27 off just 16 balls in the 2024 T20 World Cup final was one of the best innings of his career. He has a good action with clean hitting ability.
