Harsh Dubey finished as the highest wicket-taker of Ranji Trophy 2024-25
Harsh Dubey was supposed to be among the sold list of players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. The spin-bowling all-rounder somehow fell through the gap of not being a regular in white-ball cricket for his domestic side Vidarbha. Since making his debut in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and then making his List-A debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy that season, Dubey has only played 16 T20s in which he has bowled an average of 3 overs per match and faced 21 balls in total while batting in the lower-order.
He also had just 21 wickets from 20 List-A matches averaging 34 and has a batting average of 35.50. It is understandable why Dubey, along with other talented youngsters like Mumbai’s Ayush Mhatre, Karnataka’s Ravichandran Smaran and Rajasthan’s Karthik Sharma, weren’t automatic picks for IPL 2025. Their white-ball numbers are not the flattering kind.
However, being called up as a replacement for Smaran at the toe end of the season, is a good thing for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Dubey.
At 22, Dubey is Vidarbha’s disruptor with the bat and the ball in red-ball cricket. You understand why he is given that role, only once you see him bowl a marathon of 20-25 overs or clobbering bowlers with decades of experience out of the park.
Much like Mhatre, Dubey is a modern-day T20 cricketer put in the red-ball furnace and branded as a specialist in the whites. He can bowl multiple variations with his flight and can extract sharp turn by landing the ball in the right areas. His accuracy had troubled seasoned batters like Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav who were the names in his five-wicket haul in the recent Ranji semifinal helped Vidarbha down Mumbai and get revenge for their last season’s final defeat.
Vidarbha had reached the Vijay Hazare Trophy final on the back of their top-four, in particular Karun Nair’s monstrous form, but Karnataka’s bowlers burst through that in the summit clash. When his team needed 126 off the last 10 overs, Dubey barely looked troubled. Walking at No.8, he tore the pace attack to shreds – specifically the IPL 2025 Purple Cap leader Prasidh Krishna.
When Prasidh bowled a yorker, Dubey backed himself deep into the crease and smacked the ball over deep fine leg. When a length ball came next, he smacked it straight down the ground. He played a reverse ramp shot that sailed over the keeper’s head for a six. Karnataka’s title hopes were low during Dubey’s 63 off 30 balls and only after his dismissal in the 49th over, could they celebrate.
In the second half of the Ranji Trophy in the group match against Hyderabad, Vidarbha were limping at 80/6 against an attack that had Mohammed Siraj in it.
Dubey strolled in at No.8 and batted at a strike rate of 141. He decimated Hyderabad captain Chama Milind by carting him for 36 runs in 12 balls. Then it was Siraj’s turn, who he swatted for three sixes in a single over.
Besides finishing with the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 winners’ medal, Dubey broke the record for most wickets in a single Ranji season with 69 scalps from 19 innings at a ridiculous average of 17. He also has 476 runs from 10 innings, including five half-centuries, most of them coming while batting at No.8.
The young left-armer idolises Ravindra Jadeja, is mentored by another spin-bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and has the experience of over 50 matches across all formats.
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At SRH in the IPL 2025, there isn’t much scope for fans to take notice of Dubey’s abilities unless he can pull off another lower-order blitzkrieg. They just have four more matches left and are already out of the playoffs race, which should be enough reason to test Dubey for the future. He has fared well against the best in India and facing the world’s best players can only be better for SRH and Indian cricket.
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