India vs Bangladesh: Shivam Dube - From an overweight cricketer to finding a place in Team India

Shivam Dube is a medium pace all-rounder from Mumbai. A right-arm bowler and a left-handed batsman, Shivam Dube has made rapid strides in the recent past and hence, was awarded with a place in the Indian T20I squad for their upcoming three-match series against Bangladesh. Injury to star all-rounder Hardik Pandya opened up a spot for Shivam to showcase his prowess in the upcoming series.

Also Read: Rohit to lead India against Bangladesh, Dube earns maiden call-up in T20Is

“He was a talented cricketer but a fat boy,” Nilesh Bhosale, Shivam’s school coach told Indian Express. “His father, Rajesh, would come to our ground to ensure Shivam got his meat, fresh cow milk badaam and pista! Shivam’s bowling won our school won U-14 Giles Shield one season, but lack of fitness and a back problem meant his cricketing career was hit.”

Things have now changed for the good for Shivam as from an overweight young cricketer, the talented all-rounder has now finally managed to receive his maiden call for Team India.

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Sixer king

He smacked Pravin Tambe for 5 sixes in an over in the Mumbai T20 league and then repeated the feat against Baroda’s Swapnil Singh a day before the IPL 2019 auction.

Impressive Ranji season

He proved he is not a one-trick pony as he shone in Ranji Trophy 2018/19. He hogged all the headlines for his all-round abilities in the initial stages and at one stage in Ranji Trophy, he averaged 99.50 in the five initial matches - he scored 489 runs and bagged 17 wickets.

Hot pick in the IPL

After a stellar show in Mumbai T20 league, the left-hander was picked up by Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore for an amount of Rs 5 crore at the auctions of IPL 2019. He, however did not have the best of times in IPL, scoring only 40 runs in 4 matches.

Stellar show for India A and in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Shivam Dube made amends for India A followed by consistent performance in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. The highlight of the left-handed batsman’s showing in Vijay Hazare was his 67-ball 118 (10x6) against Karnataka.

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Accolades from Sunil Gavaskar

“One player who will definitely be on the radar of the scouts of the franchises, as well as the national selectors, is Shivam Dubey. Not since Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly has a left-hander hit the ball so cleanly and powerfully in Indian cricket,” former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column after Shivam’s innings.

Indian T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Saha (wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant