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For the first time in seven games in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and third overall in his stint with Chennai Super Kings, Shivam Dube was dismissed for single-digit score. On Friday, during the match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, Dube departed without scoring a single boundary as he managed only 3 off 8. Following the dismissal, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan outlined a major weakness in Dube’s game amid talks around his inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad.
After bowling back-to-back overs of spin against the pair of Dube and Ravindra Jadeja, where the former took his time to tick along Yash Thakur, LSG captain KL Rahul brought pace from both ends. The strategy seemed simple against Dube – short and slow. Thakur conceded just a single in two deliveries using the ploy before Marcus Stoinis got rid of him at the start of the 12th over after Dube looked to pull the 125.4kph and shortish ball, but ended up slicing it in the air for Rahul to grab it comfortably at short point.
Following the dismissal, Pathan took to X, formerly known as Twitter, pointing out that it was the bowling down that off-stump line that did more damage against Dube than the pace off the deliveries.
“That shot outside the off stump line I have been talking abt since long now. Finally a bowler use that against Dube,” he tweeted.
With the dismissal being a rare blip in Dube’s career so far in CSK colours, it is unlikely to take the attention away from the performances he has put up this season which has led to veteran cricketers and experts calling for his position in India’s T20 World Cup squad.
In seven matches so far for CSK, Dube has scored 245 runs at a strike rate of 157.1 with two half-century scores. He has so far been CSK’s top-scorer this season with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad standing second on the list with 241 runs in seven matches.
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