"Before Christ And After Christ" - Ravichandran Ashwin Highlights Shivam Dube's Career After Joining CSK

Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was in awe of Shivam Dube’s performance in the recently concluded T20I series against Afghanistan. He highlighted how the all-rounder’s career changed completely after playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The emergence of Shivam Dube has been a big boost for the Indian Cricket Team. Not only with the bat, but he has stepped up with the ball as well and that has allowed the team to play the combination that they want to even in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who has been injured for a while now.

In the recently concluded T20I series against Afghanistan, Shivam Dube was one of the main reasons behind India winning by the margin of 3-0. The all-rounder with the bat was all over the dangerous spin bowlers of the opposition and hit sixes for fun.

Shivam Dube hit two consecutive half-centuries in the first two games and also was decent with the ball. The lanky all-rounder picked two wickets as well. Him batting in the middle order made sure that the team gets run quickly in that phase where spinners dominate.

With the kind of performance, he put in the series, Shivam Dube surely has made his case strong for the T20 World Cup 2024. But with Hardik Pandya all set to return back, it will be the big question of how the left-hander will fit in the team for the event.

Ravichandran Ashwin admits although Hardik Pandya is a crucial member of the team, but feels Shivam Dube’s career after the CSK stint has been exceptional. The off-spinner believes that the left-hander can hit big sixes on Carribean pitches, which are like Chennai. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:

“Hardik Pandya is a crucial member of this Indian team. However, the emergence of Shivam Dube… Just like how we divide years into Before Christ and After Christ, we can divide his career into ‘before CSK’ and ‘after CSK’. In West Indies conditions, which are almost CSK conditions, he is a spin-hitting monster.”

Ravichandran Ashwin further made a big statement, saying that Shivam Dube is ‘Yuvraj Singh lite’. He highlighted things that make an all-rounder similar to the 2011 World Cup winner and added that he hits spinners straight down the ground. Ravichandran Ashwin elaborated:

“I can proudly call him ‘Yuvraj Singh lite’ package. There are so many factoids about Yuvraj Singh that I could see in his game – the downswing, the height and the reach. I am not saying that he is like Yuvraj Singh, just saying he reminds me a lot of him. The beauty here is that he hits spin straight down the ground.”

The options that he gives to the team are tremendous – Ravichandran Ashwin on Shivam Dube

Ravichandran Ashwin further batted for the inclusion of Shivam Dube in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. He believes that if the opposition tries to suppress the run flow by introducing left-arm spinners to Suryakumar Yadav, the all-rounder at the other end can destroy the bowler.

Ravichandran Ashwin highlighted Shivam Dube’s bowling skills and added that his form has added worth in gold going into the tournament. Ravichandran Ashwin added:

“When Suryakumar Yadav is playing at one end, a team might try to suppress him by playing a left-arm spinner. When Shivam Dube is that the other end at this point, this is a great combination to have. The options that he gives to the team are tremendous. He can bowl two overs of his quota too.

“He has proved that he can bowl cutters and has developed a back-of-the-hand slower delivery as well. It has just added worth in gold going into this World Cup.”

Shivam Dube so far has played 21 T20Is for India. He has mustered 276 runs at an average of 39.42 and a strike rate of 145.26. He has also picked up eight wickets.