He flexed his long reach during this knock.
Shivam Dube hit a magnificent century during the warm-up game between Maharashtra and Mumbai in Pune ahead of the Ranji Trophy 2025/26. He showed his ruthless approach and completed his ton in just 62 deliveries, taking the Maharashtra bowlers all around the park.
He scored 100 runs in 63 balls, including five boundaries and nine maximums, at a strike rate of 158.73 in the second innings. 74% of his total runs came via fours and sixes, and he scored 59.52% of the team’s runs alone.
This included four consecutive maximums off Hitesh Walunj, flexing his long levers and big reach against spinners. When Dube came to the crease, Mumbai had lost both openers in quick succession, and Hardik Tomar also retired hurt on the score of 24.
However, Dube took the attack back on the opponent and batted with an aggressive intent to pull Mumbai out of troubled waters and ensure they don’t bundle soon. Eventually, he was quickly dismissed after reaching his century, but his knock was enough to show his capabilities even in the longer format.
The upcoming Ranji Trophy 2025/26 will present an opportunity for Shivam Dube to build on his impressive First Class record. Overall, he has 1541 runs at an average of 44.02 in 40 innings, including nine fifties and four centuries.
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Additionally, he has snared 58 wickets at 21.72 runs apiece in 40 outings, comprising three five-wicket hauls. For now, Dube has been known for his white-ball exploits, but he boasts a reasonable record in red-ball cricket.
That’s where he will look to keep performing and press a case for the national selection as a pace-bowling all-rounder, something India have been finding in recent years. They are grooming Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is an exceptional talent and should crack the format, but having Dube will give them more variety and flexibility.
Nitish can be injury-prone and still raw, but Dube has better FC numbers, suggesting he can be tried here and there if his performances remain encouraging in the impending domestic season. India have lacked a pace-bowling all-rounder on overseas tours, one of the reasons for drafting Nitish in home Tests, and the management can also experiment with Dube at some stage, especially after his recent improvements.
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