NEW YORK: Going into the game against USA, the form of Shivam Dube was a bit of a concern for the Indian team. He has been selected as a 'designated hitter' in the middle-overs but things were not falling in place for the lefthander. In fact, Dube's lean patch didn't actually start in the T20 World Cup either, but in the latter half of the IPL when he was playing for Chennai Super Kings.
He had a magnificent first phase which got him the ticket to the World Cup, but after that the performances tapered off. Dube, who scored 31 not out off 35 balls to help India cross the line against the USA, conceded that he was feeling the heat of a lean patch over the last one and a half months.
T20 WORLD CUP:
"Yes, I was thinking about it, but there was no self-doubt. Here the conditions are such that I can't bat the way I bat for CSK. It demands a different way of batting and I was looking to do that," Dube said.
There were phases in Wednesday's game when the left-hander struggled, but to his credit he didn't give his wicket away. It took him a while to hit his first six of the tournament, which went a long way in releasing the pressure. "This long a wait to hit a six? It might have happened in Ranji Trophy, but not in IPL, but the pitch is really difficult here. The ball sometimes shoots up, sometimes keeps low, moves around. I'm sure you have never seen a pitch like this in a T20 World Cup before," Dube said.
Range hitting is something that the man with long levers is used to doing, but that hasn't been the case for him here. In fact, even during training, it has been more about survival than hitting, which Dube concedes is "a little difficult".
"But the coaches, support-staff told me that I have the ability to deal with this and I will definitely not delete this from my memory," the 30-year-old said.
His 67-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav finally helped India win beat the USA and the Mumbai cricketer said that the pair knew it all was about dealing with the difficult phase. "We knew we could hit the big shots even on this pitch, if he could get settled. Thankfully it happened that way."
He might have liked to get a bit of bowling as well, given the fact that he is playing as the fourth allrounder. "A six was hit off me and that's why I didn't get to bowl much, but that's fine," he said.
Going forward, the indications are that the team will stick with him for a while and the left-hander has to keep doing what he did for CSK if India are to come close to winning the World Cup.
1/10:T20 World Cup: India reach Super Eights with 7-wicket win over US
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2/10:MASSIVE WIN
<p>Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten half-century and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh claimed a career-best 4-9 as India defeated the United States by seven wickets to reach the T20 World Cup second round on Wednesday.<br /></p>AFP
3/10:SKY-DUBE SHOW
<p>Chasing 111 to win the Group A clash, India were rattled at 15-2 and then 44-3 before Yadav (50) and Shivam Dube (31) put on an undefeated fourth-wicket stand of 67 <br /></p>ANI
4/10:SOLID STAND
<p><br />The duo secured a third win in three games for India with 10 balls to spare.<br /></p>AP
5/10:USA STILL ALIVE
<p>Despite the defeat, the United States are still well-placed to join India in the Super Eights as they have four points while Pakistan and Canada are on two.<br /></p>AFP
6/10:MAGNIFICENT BOWLING
<p>India were stunned by Mumbai-born fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar who had superstar batsman Virat Kohli caught behind for nought off the first ball he faced.<br /></p>AFP
7/10:BIG WICKET!
<p>Rohit was then caught by Harmeet Singh at mid-off, again off the bowling of the 32-year-old Netravalkar in the third over.<br /></p>AFP
8/10:PANT'S CAMEO
<p>Rishabh Pant's 18-run cameo was ended when his stumps were uprooted by Ali Khan in the eighth over.<br /></p>AP
9/10:SKY ON TOP!
<p>However, Yadav went to his 18th international T20 half-century from 49 balls with two fours and a pair of sixes.<br /></p>IANS
