Who Is Shivam Dube - The Mumbai Lad Who Nearly Did A Yuvraj Singh In 2018?

When one looks at Shivam Dube, you would feel that you have gone back in time as a cricket fan. The high back-lift, the incredible ability to hit sixes at will. Who does that remind you? A certain Yuvraj Singh. Ignore the fact that Yuvraj used to bowl pie-chucking left-arm orthodox while Dube bowls right-arm pace. At six feet, Dube has good pace and can generate good bounce. However, his exploits with the bat have shot him into the limelight and it came in 2018 during the game between Baroda and Mumbai at the Wankhede stadium.

The timing of the knock and his audacity was sweet as it came just before the IPL Auctions. Swapnil Singh was the Baroda bowler and the left-arm spinner felt his wrath as Dube mauled five sixes in five balls, with all but one heading into the wide long on region. However, Dube missed Yuvraj and his soon-to-be current coach Ravi Shastri's feat of six sixes in six balls as the bowler fired a quick delivery down the leg side. 

The six-hitting ability and his knock fast-tracked him to the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise where he was snapped up by Virat Kohli's team for Rs 5 crore. Although he did not set the IPL stage on fire, he showed his mettle in the India A series against South Africa and then in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

In the recently concluded series between India A and South Africa A in Thiruvananthapuram, Dube was the leading run-getter for the side with 155 runs in four matches and was dismissed just once. His knock of 79 came on a green top and the maturity with which he attacked showed his temparament as he rescued India from 20/5. Dube performed well in the first-class games as well, smashing 68.

However, it is performances in the Vijay Hazare that has grabbed everyone's attention. In the game against table-toppers Karnataka, Dube kept Mumbai in the hunt by blasting 118 off 67 balls which included seven fours and 10 sixes. However, Mumbai fell short by eight runs and their campaign came to an end in bizarre circumstances following their no-result against Chhatisgarh. Mumbai were knocked out as they had lost to Chhatisgarh in the league stages and that they had lesser wins than Chhatisgarh before the knock-outs. 

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Dube has had to overcome plenty of obstacles in his path to the Indian cricket team and one hopes that he can shine when the opportunity presents itself.

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