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Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube is having a fine comeback run in T20I cricket, as with his superb all-round show during the second India-Afghanistan T20I at Indore, he joined the elite company of legends like Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli.
Shivam is the seventh Indian player to take at least a wicket and score a fifty in a T20I match, but only the third player to do it on two or more occasions, with Yuvraj having done it three times and Virat having done it twice. In the first T20I against Afghanistan, Shivam took 1/9 in two overs and scored 60* in 40 balls with five fours and two sixes. In the second T20I held yesterday, Shivam took 1/36 with the ball in three overs and went on to score a fiery 63* in 30 balls, with five fours and four monstrous sixes. Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Tilak Varma and Washington have also accomplished this feat once each. Shivam made his return to the national side after three years during the tour to Ireland last year and travelled with the Asian Games gold medal-winning team in Hangzhou as well. ' Since that Ireland series, Shivam has featured in seven matches, having scored 170 runs across four innings without getting out at a strike rate of 158.87 with two half-centuries. He has also taken three wickets across these seven games. With Hardik Pandya out due to an injury, Shivam is getting these chances to establish himself as a backup to the star pace bowling all-rounder ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA from June 1 onwards and seeing his performances so far, it is safe to say that Shivam is presenting a claim for a spot in the World Cup squad. Coming to the match, India opted to field first and troubled Afghanistan with frequent wickets. Gulbadin Naib (57 in 35 balls, with five fours and four sixes) continued to play unbothered, despite wickets falling at the other end and made an attacking fifty. Short cameos from Najibullah Zadran (23 in 21 balls with a boundary and two sixes), Karim Janat (20 in 10 balls with two fours and a six) and Mujeeb ur Rahman (21 in nine balls with two fours and two sixes) powered Afghanistan to 172 in their 20 overs. Pacer Arshdeep Singh (3/32) was the pick of the bowlers for India, while Ravi Bishnoi (2/39) and Axar (2/17) also bowled well to restrict Afghanistan's run flow. Shivam Dube also took 1/36 in his three overs. In the chase of 173, skipper Rohit Sharma was once again out for a duck. But a returning Virat Kohli (29 in 16 balls, with five fours) played with a refreshing attacking intent and formed a 57-run stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Following Virat's dismissal, Yashasvi (68 in 34 balls, with five fours and six sixes) and Shivam Dube (63* in 32 balls with five fours and four sixes) demolished the Afghanistan bowling line-up with their hitting, putting up a 92-run partnership in just 42 balls. Rinku Singh (9*) and Shivam finished off things to give India a six-wicket win and a series win by 2-0, with one game left. Karim Janat (2/13) was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan. Axar was the 'Player of the Match' for his bowling spell. (ANI)
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