Legendary Kiwi all-rounder Vettori, who has been a part of the IPL as a player and a member of the coaching staff, claimed that Shivam Dube is not up to the mark the ball as well as with the bat in hand. Shivam hasn’t been able to put up impressive performances for his new franchise thus far.
Former New Zealand captain and cricket expert Daniel Vettori has raised questions on the capabilities of Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube who is playing in the Indian Premier League 2021 for the Rajasthan Royals franchise. The left-handed batsman and right-arm medium pacer from Mumbai was bought in the 2019 auction by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 5 crores.
Shivam had an ordinary 2019 season for RCB. Known for being a franchise that does a lot of chopping and changing, uncharacteristically, RCB persisted with Shivam in the 2020 season. However, he failed to put up game-changing performances in the previous season and was finally released by RCB ahead of the 2021 auction.
Rajasthan Royals bought the all-rounder for INR 4.4 crores in the 2021 auction. His season so far has not been good. He hasn’t been able to deliver for his new franchise in the three games he has featured so far. He scored 23 from 15 balls in his first game, two runs from seven balls in the second and 17 from 20 balls in the third match.
During an interaction with ESPNCricinfo, Vettori claimed that his label of being an all-rounder has made people expect a lot from him, which has fetched him a lot of money in the 2021 auction. However, the former cricketer was of the opinion that his game was not up to the mark in either the bowling or batting department.
Vettori claimed that as soon as one is labelled an Indian all-rounder, high expectations are attached with that player, which generally allows him to gather a high auction price. He added that Shivam got a high price at the RCB, not so big at Rajasthan, but his concern is that both facets of his game aren’t quite up to the mark.
Dube’s claim to fame was that he was a quick-bowling all-rounder, a highly valued craft and is quite rare to be found in India. Former Kiwi spinner further pointed out that no team has been able to figure out the best way in which Dube should be utilized. He was a part of the Indian T20I side for a while due to ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s unavailability. Pandya’s injury allowed him to get a few matches in the blue jersey, but he was dropped after a while as he couldn’t deliver much.
Daniel Vettori said:
“There’s sort of mixing and matching to try and put him in certain situations where he can be successful. And I don’t think any team that has been involved with him has found that just yet. So, there’s a lot expected of him, but I am not sure if he’s quite up to the task in either facet of his game.”
Daniel also suggested that Shivam could be used as a big-hitter at the death, batting at No. 7. Further, he claimed that he could be used as a bowler just the way Vijay Shankar is utilized by SunRisers Hyderabad. He should be asked to bowl only two or three overs sometimes, he further added.
Shivam was touted as the next Yuvraj Singh after his heroics in the Mumbai T20 league. His ability to hit towering sixes is unquestionable, but his inconsistency with the bat is turning out to be a huge issue. Moreover, he has been promoted up the order by the Rajasthan management, but he hasn’t been able to hit big. It would be interesting to see if the RR management decides to stick with him for the upcoming games or give a chance to someone like Mahipal Lomror, who is also a capable all-rounder.
