Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube was a happy man on Thursday. He played an instrumental part with both the bat and the ball as India won the IND vs AFG 1st T20I by six wickets. Dube after the match said India captain Rohit Sharma promised him more game time in national colours in the future courtesy of his man-of-the-match performance.
Dube appeared confident right from the start of the match. He came in to bowl in the 9th over and picked up the wicket of Afghan captain Ibrahim Zadran in his second ball. Although he bowled two over, he conceded only 9 runs, keeping the Afghan batters in check.
Dube scored an unbeaten 60 to guide India to the win. He played a mature innings, putting the bad balls away and rotating strike in absence of boundaries. He received the man of the match award for his performance. Dube revealed a chat he had with captain Rohit Sharma after the game in the post-match presentation ceremony.
On being asked about his conversation with Rohit, Dube said, “He said I played well and assured me he was going to talk to the management about providing me with more game time so that I could try and improve my game.”
Dube also talked about his feelings while batting in the middle.
“It was really cold but I enjoyed playing in this ground. I was playing for India after a long time and was batting at number 4, so there was a bit of pressure on me. I only had one thing on my mind, to play my natural game. When I went out to bat, I felt some pressure in the first two or three balls. After that, I focused on the ball and didn’t think much about what was happening in the middle. I know I can hit big shots and score runs any time,” Dube said,
