Are we under-valuing Shivam Dube in this Indian T20 setup? It is a question worth asking, particularly after his latest innings — a blistering 66 off 31 balls against Netherlands in Ahmedabad — arrived at a time when India’s more celebrated batters were struggling for fluency.
On a surface where timing was difficult and several players, including Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, found stroke-making uncomfortable, Dube walked in and immediately imposed himself on the contest. Six sixes, a strike-rate touching 213, and a decisive shift in momentum powered India to 193 — a total that ultimately proved match-winning. It was not merely a cameo; it was a defining intervention.
Yet Dube’s contributions often seem to exist in the margins of discussion.
His 2026 numbers suggest anything but peripheral impact. In eight T20I innings this year, he has scored 233 runs at an average of 38 and a strike-rate of 208, striking 20 sixes. Crucially, these returns have come almost entirely from the middle order — a role that demands both situational awareness and calculated aggression. With Pandya enduring phases of inconsistency, Dube has quietly assumed the responsibility of enforcer and finisher.
His value becomes even clearer when viewed through the lens of tournament cricket. Across two T20 World Cups, Dube has accumulated 249 runs in 12 innings at a strike-rate of 137 — not astronomical numbers, but contextually significant ones. In pressure environments, impact often outweighs aesthetics.
During the 2024 campaign, three of his contributions came on that notoriously slow drop-in pitch on Long Island, New York. In a chase of 111 against USA, India were 39/3 when Dube entered; his unbeaten 35 off 31 ensured there were no further complications. Against Bangladesh in North Sound, his 34 from 24 steadied the innings after a few wickets had fallen. In the final against South Africa, a brisk 27 off 16 provided valuable impetus in a tight contest. None were headline-grabbing innings, yet each was vital to India’s eventual title run.
In the current World Cup, after a golden duck against USA, Dube has responded with scores of 23 off 16, 27 off 17 and 66 off 31, striking at 178 overall. The pattern is consistent: recovery, acceleration, and impact.
And key to this has been an improved sense of match awareness, conditions, and what type of challenges bowlers will pose given how much video analysis is done these days.
When this writer asked Dube about his approach when he walked to the crease with India struggling for momentum, and how he bashed his way to a 25-ball 50, Dube had this to say: “It’s about who has the day. I think in our team all of us are match-winners, anyone can hit big sixes on any day and I felt today is the day, so I need to be a littler smart, push myself, stay till the end, but I also need to regain my strength as well. That’s what I did. That’s why I am a power hitter.”
Dube may not command the spotlight in a batting line-up brimming with star power, but his role has become structurally important. He absorbs pressure, clears boundaries, and bridges phases of uncertainty.
The question, then, is not whether he is talented. It is whether we are giving due weight to a cricketer who keeps delivering in moments that matter.
