New Delhi: Shivam Dube has started where he left off last season. In fact, the Chennai Super Kings all-rounder has raised the bar even higher in IPL 2024 by adding consistency to his armour. Dube, who sits sixth in the Orange Cap standings, is the only No.4 batter besides Riyan Parag in the top half of the top run-getters list. All the other players are either openers or No.3 batters.
He has scored 242 runs in six matches at an outstanding average of 60.50. But what stands out the most is his strike rate of 163.51 – the highest among the top 12 batters this season.
Dube has been in sensational form this season. The tall left-hander has successfully performed the dual role of a destroyer and a re-builder to perfection. Whenever CSK are off to a good start, he carries forward the momentum and whenever his team is in trouble, Dube rebuilds and puts his team back in the driver’s seat.
Courtesy of the impactful displays, Dube has been tipped to make the cut for the 2024 T20 World Cup squad. He is just the kind of player who can turn the game single-handedly by putting the pressure back on the opposition.
Former India all-rounder and T20 World Cup winner Irfan Pathan said he will be disappointed if Dube is not selected for the T20 World Cup.
“Eventually there will be a time when Shivam Dube will put pressure on Pandya, the kind of hitting ability that Dube has, the way he has murdered the spinners, no one comes closer to him in Indian batting in the middle order, he is the best now,” Pathan said in the Star Sports Press Room.
Pathan said that India have missed a fearless player like Dube who can hit six sixes like Yuvraj Singh.
“I will be highly disappointed if he doesn’t go to the World Cup. We have missed a guy like him, someone like Yuvraj Singh who can hit six sixes, he plays fearlessly from the word go. I haven’t seen anything like that.
With Hardik Pandya, struggling to perform as an all-rounder for the Mumbai Indians, Dube finds himself in pole position for the coveted spot.
“Yes, Hardik’s ability as a hitter has gone down and that is why a lot of people are talking about him. It might happen that both will take the flight to the World Cup but I am excited about Dube and what he can bring to the table.”
Dube’s latest victims in IPL 2024 were Mumbai Indians. The left-hander smashed an unbeaten 66 off 38 balls including 10 fours and two sixes to take CSK over the line.
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