Hardik Pandya has been an invaluable player for India because of his all-round exploits. India have produced some seam-bowling all-rounders in recent years but no one has been able to establish themself as a proper backup for Hardik. However, Shivam Dube, in his second stint with the Indian team, has played some fantastic cricket and earned plaudits from fans as well as experts.
In the recently concluded T20I series between India and Afghanistan, Dube scored two fifties and picked up a couple of wickets. He was adjudged Player of the Series for his efforts. As Hardik continues to recuperate from the ankle injury he suffered during the ODI World Cup 2023, a section of the cricket fraternity has opined that Dube could be the first-choice pace-bowling all-rounder for the ‘Men in Blue’.
However, Aakash Chopra suggested that India could go in with both the players in their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.
“Shivam Ati Sundaram – his power is talking loudly. I felt he was sent slightly early in the third match. You could have sent either Sanju Samson or Rinku Singh ahead of him because he is not a grafter, he is an attacker. He reminds me of Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh). So you need to keep him slightly down the order,” Chopra said on his official YouTube channel.
“The way he hit sixes in the first two matches, the power was evident. Some people have even said to leave Hardik and pick Dube. I am saying keep both. Shivam Dube is a real contender based on these three matches. If he does well in the IPL, it will be the icing on the cake,” the former India opener added.
Chopra spoke about the importance of having powerful players in the team for the T20 World Cup, which is expected to be played on spin-friendly surfaces. He also mentioned that the grounds in the Caribbean could be big and that is why being powerful could be an added advantage for the batters.
‘We haven’t got an answer to the question’ – Aakash Chopra unsure of India’s wicketkeeper in T20 World Cup
India has backed Jitesh Sharma in T20Is in recent times. He played a fine knock of 31 off 20 balls in the first T20I against Afghanistan before getting out for a duck in the second. Sanju Samson replaced him for the third T20I and perished first ball. Chopra wasn’t sure as to who could be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup. Chopra reckoned that even the Indian team management doesn’t know who would don the wicketkeeping gloves during the marquee event.
“We haven’t got an answer to the question that who would be our keeper. Jitesh Sharma was played the first two matches. After that, Sanju Samson was played a match. Jitesh batted well in the first match, didn’t open his account in the second, and Sanju didn’t open his account in the third,” Chopra stated.
“If you ask me who would go, I would say I don’t know who would go. Jitesh hasn’t confirmed his spot, Sanju wasted the one chance he got, Ishan Kishan hasn’t been able to be a part of the race thus far, and they didn’t pick KL Rahul,” he concluded.