Vijay Hazare Trophy | Disappointed that I wasn't able to take my team home, says Shivam Dube
Mumbai's hard-hitting all-rounder Shivam Dube has expressed his disappointment over failing to take his team over the line in Bengaluru against Karnataka on Thursday. Dube scored a stunning 67-ball 118 and tonked the bowlers out of the park, but unfortunately wasn't able to guide his team home.
Despite not having the greatest of IPLs after being picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Shivam Dube has continued to make inroads in domestic cricket with strong performances for both Mumbai and India 'A' side. On Thursday, he added more credibility to his reputation by smashing an astonishing 67-ball 118 against Karnataka, smashing 10 sixes in the process. However, despite his heroics, Mumbai fell short by 9 runs and the all-rounder has now expressed his disappointment over not being able to take his team over the line.
"I batted well but I am disappointed that I could not finish the job off. What matters is that your team should win," Dube told Sportstar.
Despite struggling with cramps, the 26-year-old stuck with his approach of going hell for leather and it almost paid off as he fell just marginally short of guiding Mumbai to a miraculous win. He then asserted that he did nothing but play his natural game, which was to take the attack to the bowlers.
"That is my natural game. I like to play big shots. I always like to dominate the bowlers," he said.
Karnataka's Krishnappa Gowtham, who ended up with figures of 3/51, knows a thing or two about big-hitting but he himself admitted that he was surprised by Dube's onslaught which saw him take apart every Karnataka bowler on the field.
"At that stage (after the loss of the sixth wicket), I thought they would try to rotate the strike and build partnerships. I didn't expect him (Dube) to go into an aggressive mode like that. He struck the ball really well. Credit goes to him," Gowtham said.
Gowtham also defended Manish Pandey's decision to bring back leggie Shreyas Gopal, with the latter conceding a mammoth 80 runs off his eight overs. The swashbuckling all-rounder also admitted that his team were poor on the field and had to improve on that aspect of their game heading forward.
"Shreyas has been a top wicket-taker for us. It was one of those rare off days for him but the captain still had that belief in him. He could have easily taken a wicket for us. We had some hiccups. We missed a couple of chances and it almost cost us. We need to improve on the field," Gowtham concluded.