Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube is a vital component for the Men in Blue during the middle and death overs as they face South Africa in their first Super Eight match of the ICC T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Dube has performed strongly with both bat and ball in the tournament to date, accumulating 116 runs in four innings at an average of 29.00 and a strike rate exceeding 178, including one fifty. He has also taken three wickets at an average of 15.33.
According to CricViz data, Dube, who typically bats at number six, poses a significant challenge at Ahmedabad. Since the start of last year, he holds the second-highest strike rate among Indian players in the middle overs with 166.66 (for players with five innings or more), trailing only opener Abhishek Sharma, who has a strike rate of 200.68.
In the death overs, Dube has excelled with the best strike rate in a strong Indian batting line-up, registering 205.00, surpassing Hardik Pandya’s 190.07.
In T20 internationals this year, Dube has scored 110 runs off spin bowling at a strike rate of 224.48 and 123 runs off pace bowling at a strike rate of 195.23, making him a key asset against the Proteas.
India leads their T20 World Cup encounters with South Africa 5-2. This year, across nine T20Is and eight innings, Dube has scored 233 runs at an average of 38.83 and a strike rate of 208.03, including two half-centuries, 12 fours, and 20 sixes off 112 balls faced.
The squads for the match are:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen.
