Given how little Shivam Dube has bowled in recent years, it always seemed a stretch to call him 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 he made his debut for India back in 2019, Shivam 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, Shivam 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.
Following his side’s win over Pakistan during the ongoing Asia Cup, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav delivered a hilarious reply to questions over his team’s below-par fielding in the match, saying that “the fielding coach T Dilip has e-mailed the boys with butter on their fingers to appear before him”.
Going further , India’s T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, revealed the turning point of the India–Pakistan match, stating that Shivam Dube’s spell after the first drinks break shifted the momentum of the game. A fiery century stand from Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill helped India to a six-wicket win over Pakistan at Dubai during their Super Four Asia Cup clash.
But the win did not come easily as Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma were among the defaulters for dropping easy catches, which powered Pakistan to a competitive 171/5 in their 20 overs, which Abhishek and Gill helped India chase down easily with a century stand, making up for whatever mistakes they made while fielding.
India completed a comprehensive win over Pakistan by 6 wickets
During the match, India won the toss and elected to field first. After Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman, a quickfire 72-run stand followed between Sahibzada Farhan (58 in 45 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Saim Ayub (21 in 17 balls, with a four and six) put Pakistan ahead.
Later, knocks from Mohammed Nawaz (21 in 19 balls, with a four and six) and Faheem Ashraf (20* in eight balls, with a four and two sixes) took Pakistan to 171/5 in 20 overs. Shivam Dube (2/33) was the pick of the bowlers for India, while Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya got one each.
During the run-chase of 172, Abhishek Sharma (74 in 39 balls, with six fours and five sixes) and Shubman Gill (47 in 28 balls, with eight fours) took Pakistan out of the game in the first ten overs. While Haris Rauf (2/26) tried to fight it out for Pakistan, Tilak Varma (30* in 19 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Hardik (7*) took India to a win with seven balls left. Abhishek secured the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his explosive knock.
Suryakumar Yadav the Indian skipper pointed out that all-rounder Shivam Dube’s spell of 2/33 in four overs was the turning point, as he got crucial wickets of Saim Ayub, breaking a strong 72-run second-wicket partnership and later that of half-centurion Sahibzada Farhan. He also talked about Shivam’s work on his bowling and his desire to deliver as much as possible with a ball in hand.
Suryakumar Yadav reveals Shivam Dube’s bowling as the turning point in India’s 6 wicket win over Pakistan
Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav believes that the first drinks break in the first innings was the turning point of their Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 clash against Pakistan. The 35-year-old stated that bowlers displayed positive body language and improved their line and lengths after the break.
Sent into bat by India, Pakistan made an impressive start in the Super 4 match in Dubai on Sunday, September 21. They were 91-1 at the halfway stage of their innings. The Men in Blue, however, launched an excellent fightback and restricted their opponents to 171-5 in 20 overs. India then chased the total in 18.5 overs.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Suryakumar Yadav shed light on his decision to bowl first after winning the toss and also praised his bowlers for bringing the team back in the contest after a poor start. Suryakumar Yadav commented:
“I felt the wicket would be the same for 40 overs, which was the case. The wicket always plays better under lights. The first drinks break in the first innings was the turning point. After the drinks break, players changed their body language and made a comeback. Usually the game changes after the powerplay. But today, the game changed after the 10th over when bowlers changed their line and lengths.”
Shivam Dube was the standout bowler for India with figures of 2-33 from his four overs. Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav also chipped in with one wicket each.Heading into the game against Pakistan, there were question marks over Dube’s bowling, even though he had claimed three wickets against UAE in the group stage. Some experts reckoned that the medium pacer could be the weak link in the bowling attack. Backing Dube after the win against Pakistan, Suryakumar Yadav said:
“According to me, Shivam Dube’s spell could be considered the turning point of the game. He’s been working really hard on his bowling in all the practice sessions. This was the perfect game where he got an opportunity. He always wanted to bowl minimum two overs and today he got to bowl quota of full overs, so he was very happy. The way he delivered, I think he had clear plans.”
Shivam Dube has claimed 18 wickets in 39 T20I matches, averaging 28.50 at an economy rate of 9.07. His best of 3-4 came against UAE in Dubai in the group stage of the ongoing tournament.
India won all three of their group stage games, including the one over Pakistan by seven wickets, before the six-wicket victory over their arch-rivals to open the Super Fours. India take on Bangladesh in their next Asia Cup fixture on Thursday, while Pakistan look to bounce back in a meeting with Sri Lanka a day prior on Wednesday.