Ranji Trophy: How unlikely Shivam Dube instigated a Vidarbha collapse | Cricket News

Two weeks after England captain Jos Buttler criticised India’s decision to substitute the concussed Shivam Dube with outright quick Harshit Rana during a T20 game, Dube proved his bowling chops with a five-wicket haul against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy semifinal in Nagpur. His 5 for 49 on the track which didn’t offer much assance to seamers bowlers, helped Mumbai restrict Vidarbha’s first innings tally to 383, even though Mumbai squandered the advantage with a shoddy batting performance.
“Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit has really improved his batting.It is not a like-for-like replacement,” Buttler would say. Here he didn’t crank up the pace or bend the ball around the corners. But he probed tight lines and length to prise out his third five-wicket haul in this format.
He felt he bowled a few yards quicker than he normally does. “I have noticed that earlier in red-ball games I used to bowl in the mid-120s but in this game, many of my balls have crossed the 130 kph mark. I was working on pace and I always had the skill to pick wickets with the red-ball, now the additional pace has helped even more,” he said. I was working on my pace. I worked quite hard on my run-up and fitness,” he said.
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“Even I wasn’t sure whether it has helped me in gaining speed but it was nice to see it having translated on the speed gun. It’s really difficult but I have been working hard on it,” he added.
Out of three wickets he got in the space of 17 balls on Tuesday—on Monday, he had ejected Parth Rekhade and Karun Nair—two came off bouncer to tail-enders. With the pitch not offering much, he said he resorted to frequent use of bouncers to dract batsmen. “I had a brief chat with Morne Morkel during the England (limited overs) series, he also suggested a couple of things and I practised on them,” he explained.
His five-for will light up the eyes of national selectors in eternal search for a seam-bowling all-rounder. Nitish Kumar Reddy has sprung up, but before the England tour, they would like to create depth, in case of late injuries. Dube admitted that “it’s always been a dream to play Test cricket,” but insed that he is not thinking too far ahead.
With the Test dream stirring him, Dube has worked extensively on his fitness and run up. He shrugged off white-ball labelling. “I don’t think anything about it. It’s not about being a white-ball special. People speak depending on the format you do well in. If they check my domestic performances, they will realise that I am not a white-ball special but a proper all-rounder who can play in all formats,” he points out.
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A sparsely used bowler even in domestic red-ball circuit, he has impressive numbers for a part-timer though. In 38 innings with the ball, he has plucked 58 wickets at an average of 22.42. However, injuries halted his natural development. But when not restricted injuries, he says he wants to chip in with the overs. “Definitely I have been used (mainly) as a batting allrounder but I have been thinking about utilising my bowling abilities more whenever given a chance. That’s why I have been working hard and getting the results now. I am happy with the reward in this game,” he said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

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