That Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and its captain MS Dhoni have been instrumental in Shivam Dube’s return to international cricket is an open secret. The lanky all-rounder has repeatedly talked about Dhoni’s influence on his game ever since he started playing for CSK in IPL 2022. Dube said Dhoni always backed him to play his natural game. “This credit goes to Chennai Super Kings and Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) because I always had this game in me. They have brought out the best in me. They have always encouraged me and said that they believe in me. Stephen Fleming and Mike Hussey have shown faith in me,” Dube said after smashing successive half-centuries in the T20I series against Afghanistan.
Apart from the mindset and a promotion in the batting-order of CSK, did Dhoni suggest any technical changes in Dube’s batting? He sure did, at least according to former India cricketer Abhinav Mukund. The former India opener said Dhoni must have had a word with Dube about his struggles against the short-pitched deliveries.
“A little birdie told me that Dube had a chat with MS Dhoni and he told him – not rocket science – don’t attack the short ball,” Mukund told Jio Cinema.
Dube’s struggles against short balls and the Dhoni touch
Despite being one of the tallest cricketers going around in Indian cricket, Dube has had his issues with the short deliveries. The same tactic was applied by Afghanistan when he came in to bat in the first T20I in Mohali but this time around, Dube was prepared to fight it out. He looked a bit uncomfortable but just as Dhoni suggested, didn’t throw his wicket away.
The result was an unbeaten 60 off 40 balls to see India home in Mohali. He backed that up with another unbeaten knock of 63 off 32 balls in the second T20I here on Sunday, making a fairly good spin attack look pedestrian with his power-hitting.
“It’s a pleasure to keep improving my performance as I am going along. The range I have is god’s gift and I have also worked a lot on it. I have developed many areas of my game and I am getting the runs on the board,” Dube told JioCinema.
On the amount of work that has gone into improving his game against short balls, Dube said, “I have worked a lot on it. When I was playing domestic cricket, I was able to dominate all the bowlers, but when it came to IPL and Indian cricket it was not easy as bowlers were bowling over 140km/hr. I worked a lot with side arms, but it is more about the mindset which I worked.”
On how hard it is to think only about the present and not about the forthcoming T20 World Cup, Dube said, “In the past I have thought a lot about the future. But I have realised that I got to focus on the present. I have to focus on how to improve my skills, so that’s more important to me. I just try to keep myself grounded and try to focus on what I have to do.”