All-rounder Shivam Dube's return to the Indian side has proved to be a blessing for the team. Dube registered his second half-century in as many games on Sunday as India made a mockery of Afghanistan in the second T20I in Indore. The 30-year-old has made unbeaten 60 and 63 in the first two matches, helping India seal the series with a game yet to be played. Not only that, Dube has also chipped in with a few overs in the absence of Hardik Pandya, taking two wickets as well. Ahead of the match in Indore, Dube was part of a light-hearted chat with India captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli, who returned to the T20I side after a hiatus of more than 14 months.
In the video, Rohit and Virat were seen laughing their guts out while speaking to Dube. Kohli was also making a few animated gestures during the viral interaction, drawing laughter from Rohit.
On Sunday, Dube joined the elite company of legends like Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli.
He is the seventh Indian player to take at least a wicket and score a fifty in a T20I match, but only the third player to do it on two or more occasions, with Yuvraj having done it three times and Virat having done it twice.
In the first T20I against Afghanistan, Shivam took 1/9 in two overs and scored 60* in 40 balls with five fours and two sixes. In the second T20I held yesterday, Shivam took 1/36 with the ball in three overs and went on to score a fiery 63* in 30 balls, with five fours and four monstrous sixes.
Dube said his ability to play a wide range of strokes against spinners is "god's gift" but overcoming issues against express pace and bounce will require plenty of hard work.
"It's a pleasure to keep improving my performance as I am going along. The range I have is god's gift and I have also worked a lot on it. I have developed many areas of my game and I am getting the runs on the board," Dube told JioCinema.