Shivam Dube’s absence from India’s T20I squad for the five-match England series has once again put the BCCI selection committee under the microscope. Dube, who was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad last year, has now lost the faith of head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar as it seems like they have decided to move on from him. The Indian management has started banking on Nitish Kumar Reddy as the second fast-bowling all-rounder option in the side after Hardik Pandya.
However, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has raised questions over Dube’s absence despite being part of the World Cup-winning squad.
“What happened to Shivam Dube? I wanted to talk about Ruturaj (Gaikwad) as well but he is not able to make his place. Rajat Patidar is also there. Obviously, there is a lot of batting. However, now I am going to focus a little bit on Shivam Dube. He was a member of the T20 World Cup-winning team,” he said.
The left-handed batter played a crucial 27-run cameo in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa, which turned out to be handy for India in the end. He didn’t have the best of World Cups, but the 16-ball 27 in the crucial situation in the finale will always remain a big highlight of his career.
“When you win, everyone should get the credit. He even played decently in the final. Before that, there were definitely some questions that he wasn’t fielding or batting well. However, then he played well and became the T20 World Cup champion,” Chopra observed.
Dube travelled to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka for the T20I series after the World Cup triumph but missed out on the South Africa tour and has now also been dropped for the England series.
‘Shivam Dube suddenly disappeared from the horizon’
The former cricketer turned commentator asserted that Dube has suddenly disappeared from the horizon now.
“After that, he remained injured a little, didn’t get too many opportunities either, and is now out of the team. No one is talking about him as well. Riyan Parag is not being talked about because he is injured but no one is asking where Dube went. He suddenly disappeared from the horizon,” he said.
Chopra made a point that if a player is good enough to get picked for a tournament like WC, then he is surely worthy of playing after that tournament for a year or two.
“If he was good enough to be a part of the World Cup squad, I am sure he would be worthy of playing for another one or two years. He has remained out because of injury, but there was a theory earlier that whoever goes out due to injury, will come back in first, and whoever replaced him would have to sit out no matter what he might have done,” Chopra elaborated.
