Given how little Shivam Dube has bowled in recent years, it always seemed a stretch to call Shivam Dube an all-rounder. But various coaches and captains in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and with the national side, always believed that he had that second string to his bow. In the ongoing Asia Cup, the 32-year-old Shivam Dube has set about proving it.
Since Shivam Dube made his debut for India back in 2019, Dube has been given the ball in just 27 of the 39 T20Is he has played. Sunday’s high-voltage clash against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium was only the third time he had completed his quota of overs. In retrospect, giving him the 18th over was perhaps a mistake, as Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Agha took 17 from it. But till then, Dube had been almost faultless, not even conceding a boundary in his first three overs.
On a night when India’s new-ball bowlers – Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah – got a real caning, Shivam Dube was the pick of the pacers. He hit the deck hard, getting awkward bounce from a length, and it was his wickets that pushed Pakistan right back after a blazing start.
Several catches had gone down before Abhishek Sharma took a superb one on the dive to send back Saim Ayub off Dube’s bowling. The catch won the plaudits, but it was a short-of-length delivery outside off that had induced the top edge and the chance. Few had expected Shivam Dube to be a factor on the UAE’s slow pitches, especially after he bowled just one over in India’s T20 World Cup triumph (2024), but Shivam Dube has now made decisive interventions against both the UAE (3-4) and Pakistan (2-33).
The key, game-turning, wicket on Sunday was undoubtedly that of Sahibzada Farhan, whose machine-gun celebration on reaching his half-century had irked India’s players and fans alike. A Shivam Dube off-cutter deceived him to such an extent that the bat flew out of his hand before the miscue was caught by Suryakumar Yadav at mid-off.
In the IPL, Shivam Dube has enjoyed four seasons with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), catching the eye with his middle-order hitting. As a bowler, however, he has been invisible, sending down just five overs for one wicket in that time. But Gautam Gambhir and India’s think-tank have clearly seen something CSK haven’t, and Shivam Dube has allowed them to go into matches in the UAE with just one specialist pace bowler. It may not be a long-term solution, but Shivam Dube can look back on one of the biggest matches of his life with great satisfaction.
As India prepares for the Super Four match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup 2025, former spinner Amit Mishra has suggested a tactical plan: allow Shivam Dube to bowl 2–3 overs. Mishra believes that Shivam Dube’s growing confidence with the ball and his all-round capabilities could provide India with an important advantage in the middle overs.
Shivam Dube is a good talent- Amit Mishra
Former India spinner Amit Mishra has urged the team management to make the most of Shivam Dube’s all-round abilities following his heroics against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 clash on Sunday, September 21. The off-spinner credited the medium for bagging the wickets of well-settled Sahibzada Farhan (58 off 45) and Saim Ayub (21 off 17) in the game.
Mishra further advised Dube to improve his bowling to offer more to the Men in Blue while crediting him for his five wickets already in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025, including career-best figures of 3/4 against the UAE. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Mishra said:
“ Shivam Dube is such a player who, if you bowl, then he can do a lot of things for you in the future. It’s because he’s the talent; his batting is good. In my view, he has to work on his bowling. Even yesterday, he did a good job, got the wickets of two set batsmen. The most important thing was that he bowled four overs, and it was an overall good bowling display”
The 42-year old Amit Mishra further continued on his channel :
“Whenever you get a chance, you bowl him for at least 2-3 overs, if not 4, which will only boost his confidence. In the first match, he got three wickets when he bowled [against the UAE], and he scalped two wickets yesterday. He can bowl better.
“ As I said, he has to improve his bowling. He needs to work on the slower ones, speed, and length… But he’s a good talent and he can become a good player for us in the future,” he added.
Amit Mishra further showered his praise on Abhishek Sharma for his match-winning knock against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 match. The cricketer-turned-analyst believes that Abhishek will become one of the most destructive T20 batters in the future. He said in the same video:
“Abhishek was giving better starts, batting well, looked in a great touch, but wasn’t scoring big. In this match, he scored those runs and see what was the match result. He’s one player that if you support him, then in the coming days he will be one of the dangerous players in T20s.”
Notably, opener Abhishek Sharma slammed a quickfire 74 runs off 39 balls at a strike rate of 189.74, including five sixes and six boundaries, as India beat Pakistan by six wickets with seven balls to spare. With 173 runs in four innings, the World No.1-ranked T20I batter is currently the leading run-scorer in the T20 tournament. The Men in Blue will next face Bangladesh in their next Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 match in Dubai on Wednesday, September 24.
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