He scalped five wickets and also notched up a crucial knock in the Asia Cup 2025 Final.
Star all-rounder Shivam Dube has just had a brilliant outing in India’s triumphant ACC Asia Cup 2025 campaign. The player made crucial contributions with both of his skills. He scalped five wickets in as many innings at an impressive economy of 7.76 and notched up a much-needed partnership with Tilak Varma in the Asia Cup 2025 Final against Pakistan.
His counter-attacking 22-ball 33 rescued the Men in Blue from a tricky situation before Tilak’s calm and composed 69-run knock sealed the ninth subcontinental title for India. However, it has been recently revealed that the player had once quit cricket for a long gap of two years.
The 32-year-old discussed that he was fond of the game since four years old and used to play in the garden with their househelp. Dube used to get him tired with his explosive shots since that young age. Eventually, his father discovered the southpaw’s hard-hitting abilities and predicted him to shine in the sport in the future. But unfortunately, the all-rounder had to quit cricket at the age of 14 due to some off-field adversities.
“My dad had depression and we were facing a lot of financial problems. I wasn’t able to play cricket for two and a half years. So I thought, as he used to play cricket with me, I’ll make him watch me playing cricket. Then he came to watch a couple of my matches and noticed a change in him,” he stated in Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel.
Dube also emphasised how it took a consistent effort from him to get back to his rhythm after the long break. However, after a promising show in the Under-23 team for his domestic side, Mumbai, the player gradually started to enter the mainstream arena.
“I started playing matches regularly. It became so common that I would sometimes play two matches at a time. I counted that for about 50 days and played almost 63-64 matches. After all this, I slowly did well in the Under-23 team. It took me four to five years to make a comeback. Then, from 23 onwards, my journey began,” said Dube.
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The all-rounder made his T20I debut against Bangladesh in November 2019. But after 13 matches in the initial phase, his stats looked ordinary, especially after a decline in form in 2020. Dube had just managed to put up 105 runs at a strike rate of 136.36 and scalp five wickets in the format. This below-par performance led to his omission from Team India’s playing XI.
But after consecutive great seasons in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2023 and 2024, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player earned back his spot in the Men in Blue’s 20-over squad. He was also an integral part of India’s winning campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, scoring 133 runs in eight fixtures.
Dube has followed it up with another commendable show in the recently concluded multi-national tournament to strengthen his chances for the upcoming edition of the mega ICC event. The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be hosted by the reigning champions India and Sri Lanka in February 2026.
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