The allrounder has been a vital outlet in the middle-order against spinners.
The rise of Shivam Dube from being a talented all-rounder playing in the Mumbai maidans to being a mainstay in the middle-order of five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has been admirable.
His ability to hit spinners for massive sixes has been instrumental for his rise, which has been a long time.
However, the fast-bowling all-rounder didn’t have a bright start to the IPL 2025 as he managed scores below 20 in the three matches he played so far.
Dube has been CSK’s top choice for Impact substitution, but hasn’t been effective. Against Delhi Capitals at the Chepauk on Saturday, Dube isn’t part of the side in the first innings as CSK elected to bowl first. He is likely to replace pacer Matheesha Pathirana in the second innings.
Dube has been CSK’s top choice for Impact substitution, but hasn’t been effective. Against Delhi Capitals at the Chepauk on Saturday, Dube isn’t part of the side in the first innings as CSK elected to bowl first. He is likely to replace pacer Matheesha Pathirana in the second innings.
Dube hasn’t been used as a fast-bowling option in the Indian T20I side of late due to the abundance of options available. With the IPL’s Impact Player rule, there is a greater chance for CSK to keep him fresh for his role as an enforcer in the middle overs.
CSK have also been vulnerable at the Chepauk, which has usually been a fortress over the last three years. They had lost at home by a big margin of 50 runs to bitter rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the second match. They were unconvincing against the Rajasthan Royals as they lost narrowly by six runs.
They also tinkered with their playing XI by bringing in Jamie Overton in place of Sam Curran and Vijay Shankar for floundering Deepak Hooda. But it wasn’t enough to better their team performance against RR.
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They will be hoping for a better outcome in the next few matches as they look for solutions to the middle-order batting woes.
In the match against DC, they finally picked Devon Conway after overlooking him for Rahul Tripathi for the opening games.
Dube’s run tally of 418 runs from 14 innings helped CSK to their fifth IPL title in 2023. He has cemented his place in the franchise and paved the way to the national team.
The left-handed batter went on to win the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
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