Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan advocates for Shivam Dube’s inclusion in T20 World Cup squad

New Delhi: Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan wants Shivam Dube in the T2O World Cup squad after the star Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter scored 45 in 24 deliveries against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday.

Dube thrilled everyone by hammering T, Natarajan for back-to-back sixes over the mid-wicket fence, though he was kept quiet by a change of pace from Cummins. Cummins bowled a slower bouncer well outside the off stump, forcing Dube to throw his hands at it and the batter gave a catch straight to backward point, falling for 45 off 24 balls.

“I would definitely select, if I would have been the selector, I will be keeping a close eye on him. And I would actually take him in T20 World Cup squad because he’s actually murdering the spinners. He doesn’t need to go out there and try to get set against spinners. And we have seen this in this IPL and previous season as well, we have seen him against quality wrist spinners, against finger spinners,” said Pathan to Star Sports.

“And when you have a batter like that, why you don’t want to take advantage of him? Mind you, he’s not a bad batter against fast bowlers as well. People forget that he comes from Mumbai. And in Mumbai, you’ll see a lot of bounce as well,” he added.

Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden empasized Dube being top watch in this IPL season for India’s T20 World Cup campaign, said, ”The conditions which don’t bounce a lot. Now, I know the first game is going to be up in New York for India against Pakistan, but generally, power hitters who love to hit the ball in these sort of ranges, they can really dominate in the Caribbean. So that’s an exciting prospect, actually. And, we’re talking about Indian selection with IPL and they go hand in hand because of the pressure, dovetailing, performances together.” IANS

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