Shivam Dube’s blistering knock during India’s experimental T20I run chase in Visakhapatnam offered a clear insight into his evolution as a batter, with the all-rounder emerging as the lone source of resistance on a challenging night.
What India’s experimental night said about Shivam Dube’s evolution
A telling moment arrived in the tenth over of India’s chase. Shivam Dube had just launched his first delivery for a towering six before working a single to retain strike. Conventional wisdom suggested the next move: bring on pace, long considered Dube’s weak spot. The six had travelled 101 metres and come off the left-arm spin of New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, making the choice seem even more obvious.
Instead, Santner handed the ball to Glenn Phillips, a part-time off-spinner, hoping the angle away from Dube’s hitting arc might work on a Vizag surface that offered some grip.
That decision spoke volumes. It reflected how far Dube’s game has progressed — to a point where opponents no longer view him as a batter who can be neutralised simply with pace. His batting has gained depth and adaptability, and even his value as an all-rounder has grown, cementing his place in India’s T20I plans.
This transformation hasn’t been sudden. There were early signs. His brisk 27 off 16 balls in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, followed by a composed 33 off 22 in the Asia Cup final months later, where he also bowled with the new ball in Hardik Pandya’s absence. Both innings came under pressure, on nights when the stakes were highest.
The chase in Visakhapatnam, however, presented a different kind of challenge.
India, already leading the five-match series 3–0, chose to treat the game as a testing ground. Ishan Kishan’s minor injury was used as an opportunity to extend the batting order, bringing Arshdeep Singh into the XI and leaving India with just six specialist batters. Rinku Singh was promoted to No. 4 as part of a broader experiment to assess flexibility ahead of a World Cup. Earlier, all overs were bowled by India’s five frontline bowlers, with no safety net for the all-rounders despite having two in the side.
“We purposely played six batters today,” Suryakumar Yadav explained after the game. “We wanted five proper bowlers and wanted to challenge ourselves. If we’re chasing 180 or 200 and lose two or three early, how does that look?”
The answer arrived quickly. By the time Dube walked out, the experiment was fully exposed. Abhishek Sharma was gone first ball. Kishan wasn’t there to exploit the powerplay. Sanju Samson was still settling, and Suryakumar had departed to a sharp return catch. Adding to the challenge, the expected dew never materialised. The pitch slowed, offered more turn, and made clean hitting increasingly difficult.
The situation clarified Dube’s role. With limited batting depth and conditions offering little margin for error, there was no fallback option. Everything depended on him. For an all-rounder, that kind of responsibility matters.
When Dube arrived at the crease, India’s win probability stood at just two percent. By the time his innings ended through a freak run-out at the bowler’s end, it had climbed to nine. India never truly wrestled control of the chase and eventually suffered their second-heaviest home defeat, but the pursuit only looked alive while Dube was batting. All meaningful resistance came from one end.
He had walked in as early as the ninth over with the asking rate steadily rising. His half-century — a 15-ball effort that became India’s third-fastest in T20Is — briefly tilted the momentum, with the win-probability graph momentarily overlapping New Zealand’s. It was the only time it did.
Dube finished with 65 off just 23 balls. Thirty-six of those runs came against spin, his recognised strength, at a strike rate of 400. Equally significant, though, were the 29 runs he scored off pace. That ensured New Zealand couldn’t simply shut him down with fast bowling and control the game elsewhere.
Santner, whose very first delivery of the chase had been sent into the stands, summed up the challenge later. Dube, he said, knows exactly what he wants to do at the crease.
“When you bowl to Dube, he’s very clear,” Santner said. “When the spinner comes on, he knows it’s a good match-up and he’s going to take it on, whether it’s the first ball or the twentieth. And he did that tonight.
“When you’re chasing 13 or 14 an over, it simplifies things, but if he’s hitting like that, it’s tough to stop.”
Dube himself credited repetition and trust for that clarity. “My mindset is improving because I’m playing regularly now,” he said. “I understand what bowlers are likely to try against me.
“I’m bowling as well, thanks to Gauti bhai and Surya giving me those opportunities. When you bowl, you start understanding the game better.”
Ironically, on this particular night, he didn’t bowl at all — by design.
“That experience is helping me move in the right direction,” Dube added. “Every player and every team keeps upgrading. I can’t remain the same. I try to be a little better and smarter every game.
“I know my strengths and how to use match-ups. My role is to target spinners and keep the strike rate high in the middle overs, but I also try to do it against fast bowlers. I know where I can put pressure on the opposition.”
That, perhaps, was the clearest takeaway from the night. On an evening where the result mattered less than the insights gained, India’s experiment left Dube with a clear brief — and New Zealand’s response revealed just how seriously he is now taken.
Even after the opening ball disappeared into the crowd, spin remained the preferred option. The chase slipped away, but the image of Glenn Phillips being thrown the ball to bowl to Dube lingered. It captured his current standing perfectly: no longer a batter opponents wait to expose, but one they actively plan to contain.
