Gautam Gambhir reveals reason behind giving Shivam Dube new ball in Asia Cup 2025 final

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has revealed the reason behind giving Shivam Dube the new ball in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan. India played with a solitary genuine fast bowler throughout the tournament and thus Hardik Pandya bowled with the new ball

However, the star all-rounder was ruled out of the summit clash due to a niggle and Dube was asked to step up in the absence of Pandya. The medium pacer was able to grab his opportunity with both hands as he conceded only 23 runs in three overs he bowled against the arch-rivals.

Gambhir revealed his method of getting the best out of the players was to throw them in the deep sea and notice how they react under pressure.

“Just throw guys in the deep sea, as simple as it can get, we did the same thing with Shubman as well, when he was appointed Test captain for the England series. We had pushed him into the deep sea, and he came out as a proper professional swimmer. The same was with Shivam as well. You got to put them under pressure, extreme pressure, and see how these guys react,” Gautam Gambhir said in an interview released by the BCCI.

“See what Shivam did. Imagine if he would not have been thrown in that deep sea, we would have never got to know what kind of character, what kind of temperament he has when it comes to pressure situations. Imagine the amount of confidence he must have got after those two overs. He might have never got it in the past with the ball in hand,” Gambhir added.

Dube recently returned with impressive figures of 2-20 in two overs he bowled against Australia in the fourth T20I, accounting for Mitchell Marsh and Tim David.

On the other hand, the former Indian opener said Axar Patel and Washington Sundar can walk into any team as batters.

“They are very, very important. First of all, I think, people talk about spin trio. For me, I think more than the spin trio, it is about the quality that we have in our ranks. Imagine how many teams have that luxury of having these kind of spin all-rounders. When we go overseas, sometimes we don’t get that luxury of having seam bowling all-rounders. Axar can bat and bowl, Washi can bat and bowl, they can get into the side purely as a batter as well,” Gambhir said.

“Washi evolving in the last 7-8 months has been a huge success for Indian cricket. Axar, batting at No.5 again, was given a lot of responsibility and has done exceptionally well. He bowls tough overs, bowls in the powerplay and in the middle. So, I think we have enough options,” he added.

India will next compete in a two-match Test series against South Africa.