'He's getting the responsibility of batting higher up the order' - Sunil Gavaskar opines on Shivam Dube's promotion

Shivam Dube was roped in by the defending champions Chennai Super Kings for the ongoing IPL 2022 during the two-day mega auction in February this year. While he put up a forgettable performance with the ball against the Lucknow Super Giants in the early phase of the tournament, Dube has performed with the bat by scoring some precious runs in the middle-order.

Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has heaped praise on Dube’s ability to clear the boundary and has also said that CSK team management’s thoughtful decision of sending the batting all-rounder up the order is the reason behind him being able to play some impactful knocks this season.

Shivam Dube’s strength is his balance: Sunil Gavaskar

“His strength is his balance. He stands tall and hits the ball straight. He’s a better striker of the ball and a more consistent striker of the ball (this season). That’s the secret of him picking up the balance. The moment you try and move your foot a little too far across, you’ll lose your balance and shape.

“And most importantly, he’s getting the responsibility of batting higher up the order which means he’s getting more overs to bat. Earlier, he used to bat down the order for his previous franchises, he could only play five-six overs, you can’t score too many runs when you get to play only five-six overs,” Gavaskar said on Cricket Live on Star Sports.

Dube has so far amassed  279 runs at a strike rate of 160.34 in nine games. CSK currently occupy the ninth position in the points table, having won four out of 11 games with eight points to their tally and now, the equation for them is pretty simple and that is to win all their remaining fixtures and expect a few other results to go their way.

The four-time winners will face the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on May 12. Chennai would be hoping to do the double over their arch-rivals, having got the better of them by three wickets courtesy of the MS Dhoni show earlier in the season.