“He's proven himself consistently” - Parthiv Patel lauds Indian all-rounder after India’s loss in 4th T20I vs NZ

Former Indian keeper-batter and commentator Parthiv Patel has heaped praise on the Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube, who almost took the game away from the visitors in the fourth T20I as India eventually suffered a 50-run defeat to New Zealand, in Visakhapatnam.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, Parthiv stated that it’s a major positive for Team India to witness an explosive knock from the middle-order batter Shivam Dube when other batters failed to create an impact, adding that he doesn’t see any major weaknesses in this particular format.

“We speak about the T20 World Cup. What will be the positives? So, the time that Shivam Dube spent, it was a big positive. It's not that he did that today and shocked us. We know it's his ability, and he can bat in that manner,” Parthiv Patel told Star Sports.

"Earlier, there was a question when you spoke about two years ago that when short delivery would be bowled; he used to get out against fast bowlers. But now there are no such questions. He's proven himself consistently. Speaking about T20, it's the format of specialists, and Shivam Dube is an ultra pro max specialist when spinners come, he walks out to bat in the middle and always gets success and did that today as well,” he added.

On the other hand, former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar also joined the queue to laud the all-rounder, stating that Dube displayed intent from the very first ball of his innings, after coming out to bat early in the innings.

“Having come in earlier, he won’t see himself only as a finisher anymore. He’ll believe he can build an innings and finish too, especially in pressure situations,” Sunil Gavaskar told JioStar.

"I thought he grabbed the opportunity really well. As you said, when you bat at six or seven, you’re probably getting three or four overs with a strong India batting line-up. But this time India lost early wickets, and he had to come in sooner. He showed intent from the very first ball - the first ball six was one of the longest you’ll see, right into the second tier,” he added.

Chasing 216 runs, Dube came out to bat at 63/4 in 8.4 overs. He went on to score 65 runs in 23 balls with three fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 282.61.

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