'I Can Proudly Call Him 'Yuvraj Singh Lite' Package': Ravichandran Ashwin Backs Shivam Dube For T20 World Cup Call-up

Impressed with the batting prowess of Shivam Dube in the Afghanistan series Ravichandran Ashwin backed the middle-order all-rounder to be selected for the upcoming T20 World Cup and likened his playing style to that of one Yuvraj Singh.

Dube, who finally got a break from the bench to prove his mettle in the T20I series that concluded recently, put up stellar displays of attacking batting as he notched up two fifties and ended the series as India’s leading run-getter.

A conundrum that Dube’s rise in form has sparked is that of whether the selectors should opt for seasoned all-rounder Hardik Pandya or Dube or rather the both.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, veteran Indian spinner R Ashwin suggested that the lanky Dube could perhaps be an ideal batter for India to recruit into their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, not at the cost of losing Pandya but atleast as an additional weapon in their arsenal.

Ashwin also believes that the conditions in the Americas and especially West Indies, would be favourable for the swashbuckling 30-year-old to play his natural game.

“Hardik Pandya is a crucial member of this Indian team. However, the emergence of Shivam Dube… Just like how we divide ears into Before Christ and After Christ, we can divide his career into ‘before CSK’ and ‘after CSK’. In West Indies conditions, which are almost CSK conditions, he is a spin-hitting monster,” exclaimed Ashwin.

“When Suryakumar Yadav is playing at one end, a team might try to suppress him by playing a left-arm spinner. When Shivam Dube is that the other end at this point, this is a great combination to have. The options that he gives to the team are tremendous,” Ashwin added.

Furthermore, Ashwin stated that Dube’s innate tendency to attack spinners with the aggression he does reminded him of the legendary Indian batter Yuvraj Singh, who was notorious for whacking the spinners for boundaries at will.

“I can proudly call him ‘Yuvraj Singh lite’ package. There are so many factoids about Yuvraj Singh that I could see in his game – the downswing, the height and the reach. I am not saying that he is like Yuvraj Singh, just saying he reminds me a lot of him. The beauty here is that he hits spin straight down the ground,” said Ashwin.