Shivam Dube can't replicate IPL heroics in T20 World Cup 2024? Sanjay Manjrekar delivers colossal 'wait and see' verdict

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed his eagerness to see all-rounder Shivam Dube play against spinners in the 2nd half of the T20 World Cup 2024. 

Shivam Dube, who is playing in his maiden ICC tournament for India, had an unsuccessful leg of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA. Out of the first three Group A matches that he played against Ireland, Pakistan, and America, Dube has been able to score runs freely only against the co-hosts, otherwise, he has remained a massive flop. 

Despite not bowling at all in the WC, Shivam Dube has made minimal contributions with the bat. If the Indian team are to win the T20 WC for the first time since 2007, then the left-hand batsman should hit his peak form. The form he showcased in the Indian Premier League over the last two seasons for the Chennai Super Kings. 

It was in CSK that the world truly noticed Shivam Dube's ability to thrash spinners at will. In the West Indies, where India will play all three Super 8 matches, the conditions are going to be spin-friendly and it will be interesting to see if he can replicate his spin-playing prowess. 

What did Sanjay Manjrekar say about Shivam Dube?

Sanjay Manjrekar was recently in conversation with PTI when he was asked about the curious case of Shivam Dube. Manjrekar was asked whether or not Dube would find success against spinners in the World Cup.

To that, Sanjay Manjrekar was not too sure as he said that most of Shivam Dube's runs against spinners in IPL came in flatter pitches. At the venues in West Indies, Manjrekar claimed that it will be a totally different ball game because he wouldn't get many chances to score runs. 

"We will have to wait and see. You are right because the hitting that you saw (during IPL) from Shivam Dube was on some of the flattest pitches in the world and also a long league, a lot doesn't hinge on one game. So the pressures of World Cup are different," Manjrekar told PTI. 

Sanjay Manjrekar also expressed his eagerness to see if Shivam Dube is able to double his power-hitting prowess against spinners or not.

"So we need to wait and see if Shivam Dube can replicate what he did in the IPL against the spinners because you are right which aren't going to be as easy to hit the spinners as it was on Indian pitches and so we need to see if Dube can upgrade his power-hitting skills against spinners on these tracks," Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.

Notably, Shivam Dube looked in terrific touch with the bat in the first half of the Indian Premier League 2024 and he destroyed the opposition teams with his attacking brand of cricket. The brilliant performances of Dube led to the BCCI selection committee picking him in the 15-man squad over Rinku Singh, who has done a remarkable job for India National Cricket Team in the limited opportunities he received. However, since his selection in the T20 World Cup squad, Shivam Dube hasn't been at his best and has been struggling to get going.