Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend Suresh Raina has heaped praise on Shivam Dube for his intelligent bowling spell in the fourth T20I between India and Australia. Raina highlighted how the seam-bowling all-rounder outsmarted the opposition batters by “thinking like a batter”.
Shivam Dube contributed with both bat and ball in India’s 48-run victory on Thursday, November 6, at Gold Coast. He scored a quick-fire 18-ball 22 as India set Australia a target of 168. With the ball, Dube then delivered an impactful two-over spell, returning figures of 2/20 to help bowl out the hosts for 119. The win gave India a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
### Suresh Raina Praises Dube’s Bowling Intelligence
Speaking on Star Sports, Suresh Raina explained how Dube’s batting experience informs his bowling tactics:
> “When a batter bowls, he knows in which areas a batter can hit shots. Mitchell Marsh hit a shot against him and Arshdeep Singh took a good catch. It was the slower ball variation Parthiv (Patel) was talking about when he did the pitch report, that the ball would behave differently as it’s on a slightly slower side,” said Raina.
Raina further lauded Dube for his variations in pace and length, emphasizing that these skills could make him a valuable asset for captain Suryakumar Yadav at next year’s T20 World Cup.
> “The Indian fast bowlers executed those balls brilliantly. After that, Tim David had hit a six off the previous ball and then he (Dube) bowled a back-of-the-length, slightly off-spinning bouncer. It shows that when a batter bowls, he thinks differently, that a six cannot be hit off such a ball. When the World Cup happens, these two overs will be very crucial for any captain to get bowled,” Raina observed.
Notably, Shivam Dube was a member of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2024. Across 31 T20I innings, he has claimed 21 wickets at an economy rate of 9.29.
### Parthiv Patel: “Dube Was the Crucial Bowler”
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel also singled out Shivam Dube as the key bowler for India in the match.
> “The crucial bowler on display was Shivam Dube. He picked up two extremely important wickets. He bowled only two overs. His job is like that only. He will bowl either two or three overs, and he might get a fourth over if he is bowling extremely well,” Patel told Star Sports.
The Gujarat Titans assistant coach highlighted that Dube dismissed two of Australia’s biggest threats:
> “He bowled only two overs and picked up two crucial wickets, extremely important batters, if we talk about Australia – Mitchell Marsh and Tim David,” Parthiv noted.
Shivam Dube struck first to dismiss Mitchell Marsh (30 off 24), with Arshdeep Singh taking the catch in Dube’s first over. In his next over, after being hit for a six, Dube bounced back immediately, removing Tim David (14 off 9), who was caught by Suryakumar Yadav.
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*Edited by Kartik Iyer*
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