Ravi Shastri picked Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube as the Indian cricketers to watch out for in the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and United States of America (USA). After performing exceptionally in the T20Is against Afghanistan, Dube showed his class for CSK in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Dube has earned praise for his ability to take apart quality spinners. Shastri also backed Jaiswal, lauding him for his wholehearted performance against England in the 5-match Test series. After a poor start to his campaign in the IPL, Jaiswal returned to form with a sparkling hundred against MI at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
“The two gentlemen you’ve got to watch out for, and both are left-handers, both playing their first World Cup. One is [Yashasvi] Jaiswal. We know a lot about him, he did extremely well against England, explosive at the top of the order, a left-hander, he’s young, he’s fearless, and he’ll play shots,” Shastri told ICC.
Dube has been in prime form, having scored 350 runs from 11 games at an average of 43.75 and a strike-rate of 170.73. The fact that he has hit 26 sixes shows how dominating he has been.
“But there’s someone in the middle order, please watch out for [him], because he is explosive, he’s devastating and he’s a match-winner. He hits sixes for fun, and when it comes to spin bowling, he can kill you,” Shastri said.
While Dube has garnered accolades for playing spin-bowling effectively, the southpaw has also found a way to dictate terms to the fast bowlers. Shastri said that Dube can turn matches on their head with his power-hitting in the death overs.
“Even against the fast bowlers, he’s worked out his game, he’s understood the way to play, and I think he holds the key at that number five, number six position, because if you’re on the doldrums, you want someone to change it in 20-25 balls, he’s the player to go to,” Shastri added.
