5 min readVisakhapatnamJan 29, 2026 08:55 AM IST
The improvement in Shivam Dube’s bowling has made him one of the six or even seven bowling combinations for India to rely on the upcoming T20 World Cup. Though he hasn’t been required to send his full quota of four overs, India have not shied away handing him the ball and the all-rounder has responded by taking some timely wickets. And Dube said he is taking lessons from batting to bowling and vice-versa.
On a day where India suffered a 50-run defeat, India as captain Suryakumar Yadav revealed didn’t hand Dube the ball, as they wanted to see how their five frontline bowlers performed. But with the bat, he once again proved his mettle, scoring 65 off just 23 deliveries. And speaking at the end of the match, Dube said playing matches regularly has helped him deal with the situations.
“I am getting better with my mindset because I am playing all these matches now. I am batting in different situation. So, now I know what’s going to happen and what the bowler is going to bowl to me. That’s the key point for my batting and bowling as well. I am bowling thanks to Gauti (Gambhir) bhai and Surya. They have given me the bowling opportunity. So, when you bowl, you become little smart. So, I am working on that as well and yes, I am trying to develop some more skills,” Dube said.
Although Dube has been regularly bowling in the net sessions before with the India team and as well as the IPL, he has been rarely used before. At the IPL, with Chennai Super Kings he has been used as an Impact Player or is rarely summoned to bowl. But in the recent months India have been trying to groom his bowling skills, where even if one of their regulars happen to have an off-day, he can be relied to deliver an over or two. Thanks to his height, he has been able to land the cutters or has been able to hit the deck and generate a spongy bounce that batsmen have found it hard to hit. Of course, with his pace mostly being in the mid 120s to early 130s, anything short or full has disappeared. But over time, he has shown rapid improvement in his bowling.
“I have worked really hard. But there is something I have got opportunity to bowl, bat, I do everything in the match. So, there is something called experience. So, that has come to me and that is going in the right direction,” he said.
With the bat, despite the opposition well aware of his strengths, Dube hasn’t found the going difficult. Against spinners, he seems to have expanded his range and more importantly even against pacers he has shown he take them down as and when he wishes as was evident in the final of the Asia Cup. On Wednesday, in a losing cause, Dube was particularly severe on Ish Sodhi and even turned the heat on Mitchell Santner hitting seven sixes in his knock of 65. His quickfire knock meant India briefly had a hope before his innings was cut short.
“There are many things people upgrade. For me also, it is very important. I can’t be the same what I was. I try to be little better, little smart in the next game when I am playing. So, I learn that how to be little smart and what are my strengths and where I can target those. It’s very important about the match-up. So, they want me to hit spinners. That is my role to get the strike rate high in middle-overs. That is what I always try. Not about the spinners but fast bowlers as well. But yeah, definitely there is something where I know that this is my strength. I can give pressure to the opponents on that phase. So, my mindset is very clear at that,” Dube said.
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With regards to that one over off Sodhi, who he hit for two fours and four sixes Dube said, “There was no game plan at that time. There were some instincts from my side. I thought that okay, it’s difficult to hit spinners. He was bowling well. But I knew that even he is little scared. He is going to bowl me the bad ball. I was ready for that. So, I wanted to dominate at that time and that is what I did.”
