India cricket team star Shivam Dube credited former CSK captain MS Dhoni for helping him deal with his struggle while playing a short ball. The explosive middle-order batter was named the Player of the Match in the game against Netherlands for his 66-run knock. Dube recalled that there was a time during the IPL where he was struggling with short deliveries and that it was Dhoni who had helped him deal with that weakness effectively.
‘Mahi bhai told me’
Speaking in an interview after the IND vs NED match, Dube said that there was a time during the IPL when he was struggling with short balls and that he knew that he had the power to hit those deliveries. The batter revealed that he had worked on that aspect during the off season. Dube revealed that Dhoni had told him that it wasn’t necessary for every ball to be hit for a six and that a boundary or a single could also be taken.
“There was a time when I came to IPL, I was struggling a bit against short balls, at that time I was not able to hit them so cleanly, but then I realized that if I have to dominate at this level and I have that power, then why should I lag because of one thing, so I worked a lot on that thing during the off season. Mahi bhai had told me that it is not necessary that you have to hit a six on that ball, you can hit a boundary or take a single, so that thing was always in my mind that when I come in at the start,” Dube said.
Dube hit a 31-ball 66 to lift India up from a slump and help post 193/6. India struggled in the first 10 overs with 74/3. But in the last 10 overs, Dube and Hardik Pandya (30 off 21) combined to add 119 runs. Suryakumar Yadav (34 off 28) and Tilak Varma (31 off 27) also contributed to the total after Abhishek Sharma scored his third duck in a row of this T20 World Cup.
