How did Shivam Dubey become the most valuable player of the team? The picture changed in 2 years

New Delhi. Like every time, India is being considered a favorite this time too in the T20 World Cup 2024. Looking at the 15-member team of Team India, big cricket pundits are claiming that the team is one of the strongest contenders to win the title. Shivam Dubey's playing-11 is also considered certain. In this IPL season, Dubey, playing for Chennai Super Kings, scored 396 runs in 14 matches at an average of 36. During this, runs came from his bat at a strike rate of 162.29.

The big question here is how Shivam Dubey, who was struggling to make a place in Team India till two years ago, suddenly became so important for Rohit Sharma and company. Its story is also very interesting. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's role has been very important in making Dubey's career. At one time Dubey's season strike rate used to be just 122.85. Before IPL 2022, when Dubey was going through a bad phase in his career, on Dhoni's request, CSK spent a huge amount of four crores on Dubey and added him to the team.

Also read:- T20 World Cup 2024: The responsibility of Team India is on the top-3, if they fail then Rohit's dream may be shattered

Big responsibility given to Dhoni
Shivam Dubey used to bat in the lower middle order and was known for slow batting. There was a time when Dubey faced 100 out of 120 balls in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Dhoni gave Dubey the responsibility of playing at number-4. Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Michael Hussey said that once Dubey's role was decided, Dhoni and CSK head coach Stephen Fleming started working with him. Hussey said that initially he was not aware of the plan, but once he started working with Dubey, he saw some qualities in his game.

Changed the way of batting in the middle order
Usually in T20 cricket, the role of cricketers in the middle overs is to keep rotating the strike, but Dhoni and company gave a new responsibility to Shivam Dubey. Dhoni saw a glimpse of his middle overs spin hitter in Dubey. Hussey said that Dubey is not a great hooker and puller, but he has found a way to avoid getting trapped against the short ball. When Dubey is at the crease, he often forces the opposing team to bowl the death bowler early instead of the spinner, which benefits CSK as a team.

tag: ICC T20 World Cup, Shivam Dubey, T20 World Cup