Image Credit- ICC
Shivam Dube needed 60 lawful deliveries in the USA to strike his first six of the tour, if you count the warm-up game. In the last IPL season, this batsman has been hitting a six almost every eight balls. Even though he hasn’t always been a six-hitter, he has struck a six every sixteen balls in his T20 career. He’s been to the World Cup thanks to his six-hitting prowess, but he’s had to wait a long time to hit one into the stands.
Dube enjoys hitting sixes during practice. Although he trains other aspects of his game, range-hitting is his ultimate favourite. At times, all he does in his CSK training sessions is practise hitting sixes whenever he feels ready. In New York, where India and other teams practiced in a little space big enough to hold the nets, it was not feasible. In Florida, the rain continued to fall.
Dube should be overjoyed to leave New York and the USA and move to a place with better training facilities and more dependable fields. He’s not.
Six-hitters don’t thrive in such circumstances. Their six-hitting is the reason they are in here. They understand that on surfaces where the ball’s bounce, pace, and trajectory after pitching are all uncertain, six-hitting is not possible. Thus, yes, coexist and survive them, but enjoy them?
“What I have done in the past is never doubt myself,” Dube said. “What I see is these conditions don’t demand what I have done at CSK. These conditions demand a different game. So I was batting in a different way.”
Dube wants to be more than simply a six-hitter, as evidenced by the fact that he liked the challenge of trying to figure out how to win games for India. When you watch him in the nets, it always seems like he is going to hit a six. He then behaves in accordance with the ball. Thus far, he’s encountered situations where you need to make your best shot in order for it to clear the field. Even a small mistake is too much to bear. Dube deserves praise for doing his job without hitting these sixes.
Nor have the floodgates opened with Dube’s arrival in the West Indies. The pitches at the nets at Bridgetown, Barbados’ Kensington Oval have both seam and swing, and they were further flavoured by a brief downpour. Dube chose to spend more time bowling than batting, declining to use the range.
All of this resistance will eventually give birth to a pitch that asks for 200 during this World Cup. Kensington Oval’s main pitch, which has already seen one 200-score, may be the location. It might be in St. Lucia, which has received the greatest scores in this competition. or the last. It may be directed against Bangladesh’s diverse quicks or the spinners of Afghanistan.
India truly needs Dube on these high-scoring grounds. India has hitters who can lead a mediocre pursuit, but what he accomplished during the chase against the USA must have given the squad confidence in his abilities. Dube has trained at Kensington Oval twice with the rest of his teammates, presumably erasing any muscle memory from the USA.
Dube will have the input of two of the most accomplished batsmen in world cricket at his disposal, but India will heavily rely on his instincts to guide their strategy, particularly when they are batting first.
Whatever the conditions might be in the Super Eight, it is unlikely Dube will have to wait 60 balls for his next six. India might yet need a few from him.