IPL 2020 | RCB confused Shivam Dube by not giving him a proper role, feels Sunil Gavaskar
Dube had an underwhelming IPL 2020 season
|@ IPL T20
Sunil Gavaskar feels that all-rounder Shivam Dube, who made 11 appearances in IPL 2020, was hard done by, by the management, and was left confused due to not being given a designated role. Gavaskar further believes that Kohli did not live up to his exceptionally high standards with the bat.
After lighting up the Mumbai T20 League with some brutal hitting, Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube was purchased for INR 5 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2019 auction, but two years on, his career has, unfortunately, remained stagnant. The IPL 2019 season saw him make just four appearances, but while he did play a significantly higher chunk of matches this season, the all-rounder simply was not able to get going. In 11 matches in IPL 2020, Dube, who often found himself in and out of the team, scored just 129 runs at a SR of 122.85 and just bowled 9 overs, taking 4 wickets.
A major reason behind Dube’s failure was the lack of clarity in his role, particularly with the bat, as he often found himself batting anywhere between No.5 and No.8. Giving his opinion on Dube, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar stated it would do a world of good to the all-rounder if he’s given a well-defined role by the management. Gavaskar felt that defining Dube’s role clearly could help clear any air of confusion and even provide a cushion for both de Villiers and Kohli.
"I think where they need to do a little bit of thinking is give Shivam Dube a proper role. Dube has gone down and Sundar has gone up and down,” TOI quoted Gavaskar as saying.
"If he can be given a role, and told to go out there and thrash the ball, it might help him. He is confused now. If they can get a solid player at No. 5, then it will ease the pressure on De Villiers and Virat.”
Dube, whenever he walked in to bat, often found himself having to go bonkers from the word go, and a reason behind the same was skipper Virat Kohli’s uncharacteristic performance with the bat all season. Despite amassing 466 runs, Kohli’s runs came at a SR of just 121.35, meaning he almost always left the lower-order with a lot to do. Kohli - and subsequently the entire team - failing on Friday was a poetic representation of RCB’s struggles in IPL 2020 and Gavaskar remarked that the RCB skipper, this season, did not match the high standards he usually sets for himself.
"Looking at the high standards that he sets for himself, maybe he would say he didn't quite match that and that's one of the reasons why RCB weren't able to go through.
"...Because when he scores those big runs along with AB de Villiers, they invariably have big scores."
