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Shivam Dube bowled two overs for India in the fifth T20I against England on Sunday and picked up two wickets for 11 runs.
Gambhir jokes about ‘substitute’ Shivam Dube. (Picture Credit: Screengrab)
Indian men’s cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir gave an epic reply to former England captain Kevin Pietersen after he quizzed him about Shivam Dube in connection with the recent controversy regarding him being replaced as a concussion sub by Harshit Rana. Dube, who dismissed two English batters on Sunday (February 2) during the T20I played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, was hit on the helmet by England pacer Jamie Overton in the fourth T20I, after which Harshit Rana replaced him in the playing XI. India’s decision to replace Dube with Rana created controversy as many former England cricketers quizzed Rana’s inclusion.
The English greats alleged that India cheated by replacing a batting all-rounder with a specialist bowler.
Gambhir, who took charge of Team India as head coach in July 2024, was asked about the like-for-like replacement on Sunday, to which he said that Dube was ready to bowl his full quota of overs on Sunday.
“He would have bowled four overs for sure today,” Gambhir said.
Dube, who was added to the Indian squad on January 25 after Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out of the entire series, played in the fourth T20I and scored 53 runs. In the fifth T20I, he came out to bat at No. 5 and hammered 30 runs from 13 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes.
The member of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning team was introduced to the bowling attack in the eighth over of the run chase, and on the first ball, he accounted for the dismissal of Phil Salt. The right-handed opening batter was caught behind by Dhruv Jurel after making 55 runs from 23 balls. On the first ball of his second over as well, Dube picked up a wicket. He breached Jacob Bethell’s defence and shattered his stumps.
During the post-match discussion, Gambhir also opened up about the current team combination where India is playing only one specialist fast bowler. According to Gambhir, the idea is to block the opposition side’s middle order with eight overs of Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakaravarthy.
“See, for me, having Bishnoi and Varun bowling in tandem was very important, especially in the middle phase. We always knew that the kind of batting line-up England had, they would always come hard at us in the first six overs. But it is the 7-15 that we wanted to control and see if those two wicket-taking options could give us success. It is also about having the No. 8 batter, even if he does not face too many balls, because of the kind of cricket that we are playing. We want to go as hard as possible, and sometimes that cushion of having that No. 8 would free up the top 7 more,” Gambhir said.
