Why Shivam Dube of CSK is no longer in danger | The King
Shivam Dube‘s six-hitting has only increased – 22 sixes in his first three seasons and then 16 and 35 in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
It was the 14th delivery that Shivam Dube confronted on Tuesday night. Seconds after Spencer Johnson raced in and landed a well-directed, shoulder-high bouncer, the 33,400-odd spectators at Chepauk cleared the throat for the hundredth time on the night.
There was something about the roar as Dube got inside the line of the ball and sent Johnson well into the seats beyond deep fine-leg. For a batsman, who has been at unease while facing chin music, Dube did well. The reward for all the hard effort he had been putting behind the scenes in domestic cricket, to meet the short-ball issue.
In the middle, Johnson had a curious face. The rest of his Gujarat Titans teammates appeared shell shocked. At the Chennai Super Kings dug-out, there were high-fives among the support-staff. “I know they are going to bowl short balls and I’m ready for that,” Dube, who talks very little, would add later. He faced six short balls over the night, and not once did he look rattled.
The short balls and the bouncers were designed to trouble Dube. Last IPL season while Dube went about crushing the spinners, rival captains’ not only wasted any time in putting on the pacers, but also tested him with short-balls and bouncers.
Rolling his wrists
With two bouncers allowed every over this IPL, Dube was among those batsmen, whose comfort levels in the middle against pacers, was bound to be tested. Having looked bewildered last season against short balls, he now has not one fall back option, but two. One when he is holding the ball down by rolling his wrists and another where he stands tall and uses his power to clear the fence, like he did in the case of Spencer.
“Well if you rewind one, maybe two years ago, teams would come in and bowl short balls and Dube would either duck out of the way or defend,” Chennai’s batting coach Mike Hussey said. “And that’s all he had until he got in… Then he could maybe play some shots against it. Now bowlers are still coming in with the same approach but he’s been able to score off it as well. And he’s been able to detect boundaries if he gets into the appropriate posture as well. So that’s testament to the work that he’s done in behind the scenes… to be ready for their plans,” Hussey said.
Hussey was expected to work with Dube during the pre-season to remedy this issue, especially with the new rule coming in. But a side-strain injury Dube picked up during the Ranji Trophy meant he joined the set-up only two days before the opening encounter. There were even misgivings in the Chennai ranks. But it was a case of much ado over nothing.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Dube. He’s gone away and he’s worked and worked relentlessly against the short ball in his own time. He’s understood that’s an area that he needs to work on. It’s an area that teams were going to come at him and he has gone away and done hours and hours of hard training. So, I mean, hats off to him and the way he’s playing, he’s playing it with confidence now. And then he’s also still as dangerous as ever against the spinners as we witnessed tonight,” Hussey said.
Since joining the team in 2022, Dube has been Chennai’s trump card with the bat, one who tactically opened up opportunities like none else. Having batted out of position at Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals, Chennai have utilized him at No 4 & 5 to take down spinners. For a batter who had 22 sixes in his first three seasons, he has smashed 16 & 35 in 2022 and 2023 respectively. In two matches this season, he has half a dozen sixes.
It is this tremendous six-hitting power, especially in the middle-overs when opposition teams seek to slip in a few quiet overs with spinners, that has made Dube a super–hit with spectators at Chepauk.
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, when Virat Kohli hit Kagiso Rabada for a six, the noise levels recorded by the broadcaster had exceeded 124 decibels. On Tuesday, at Chepauk, it hit 127db when Dube made his introduction after being restless in the dug-out as Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore were beginning to slow down the run-rate. And after the left-arm spinner dismissed Rahane off the first delivery of the 11th over, Dube took no time to walk to the middle.
This was his favored match-up. And he showed why. The first, struck with devastating power, soared over long-on. For the next, Sai Kishore replied by going slower and this time Dube went over mid-wicket. Two overs later, Rashid Khan wanted to have a go at Dube. His last two deliveries to him in the IPL final last year had seen the left-hander slam two big sixes.
And here, after taking a single off the first delivery from Rashid, Dube selected the googly and placed it over long-on, before Gujarat turned to Johnson. And Dube set about proving Chepauk, why the moniker Aaru Saamy fits him well.
