Virat Kohli Promotes Shivam Dube In Batting Order, Twitter Applauds Skipper

Shivam Dube struck his maiden Twenty20 International (T20I) fifty as India posted 170/7 in the second match against the West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Put in to bat by the West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard, India lost opener KL Rahul in the 4th over. Surprisingly, skipper Virat Kohli, who got his career-best T20I score of 94 not out in Hyderabad on Friday, did not walk out to bat, instead, he promoted youngster Shivam Dube in the batting order. Dube made the most of the opportunity by hitting three fours and four sixes to take the attack to the opposition. The 26-year-old brought up his maiden T20I fifty (54 off 30 balls) to take India to a fighting total.

As Dube shone at number three, Twitter was flooded with praises for the all-rounder, while Virat Kohli was also lauded for showing faith in the youngster.

FIFTY!@IamShivamDube got promoted to No.3 in the batting order and he makes it count. He brings up his maiden T20I half-century off 27 deliveries #INDvWI @Paytm pic.twitter.com/Ul2P18973n

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 8, 2019

Delight to see this move. This is captaincy and planning. Credit to @imVkohli and the team management. Shivam Dube made the most of it. This is how careers change.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) December 8, 2019

Virat Kohli giving opportunity to Shivam Dube at No.3 ahead of him, will surely boost the confidence of him!! Virat is in purple patch still vacated his batting position, mind you this isn't the first time he did that!

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 8, 2019

Delight to see this move. This is captaincy and planning. Credit to @imVkohli
and the team management. Shivam Dube made the most of it. This is how careers change.

— Abhinav chaudhary (@abhinav33201423) December 8, 2019

As far as the match is concerned, the visitors won the toss and invited the hosts to bat. 

Indian batsmen including skipper Virat Kohli got starts only to lose their wicket to some disciplined bowling.

Kohli, soon after edging past Rohit Sharma as the world's most prolific T20I scorer with 2,563 runs, mistimed a cut to be caught at short third-man for 19 off Kesrick Williams.

But riding on Dube's 54 and wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant's 22-ball 33 not out laced with three fours and a six, India posted 170/7 in their quota of 20 overs.

India lead the 3-match series 1-0 after winning the opening encounter by 6 wickets in Hyderabad. 

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team West Indies Cricket Team Virat Kohli Shivam Dube Cricket India vs West Indies, 2nd T20I