Shivam Dube
's consistency with the bat has made him one of those
IPL 2024
performers that the BCCI selectors would find hard to ignore when they sit down to pick India's
T20 World Cup
squad. But he faces competition from an established
Hardik Pandya
, even though the new Mumbai Indians' captain hasn't been in his best form either with the bat or ball.
Possibly the BCCI will go ahead and pick both Dube and Pandya, which will only be known once the squad is announced, most likely in the next 4-5 days.
Indias' T20 World Cup squad is one of the most hotly-debated topics among experts and former cricketers on social media as well as during live broadcast of the ongoing IPL season.
Former India batsman
Ambati Rayudu
, who on Wednesday picked his 15 for the tournament, ignored Pandya from his squad, while ex-India pacer Irfan Pathan included Pandya only on the condition that he bowls regularly.
However, Rayudu said that there is no competition between Dube and Pandya as they will have different roles if both happen to get the ticket.
"Both of them are not competing for the same spot. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are finishers in the Indian team, and Shivam Dube is the kind of batter who comes in at No. 4 or 5. When the spinners are operating and conditions are slow, he can hit boundaries and accelerate to change the game. But between overs 16 and 20, Dube's strike rate isn't that high, he fails to hit that many runs. So I feel Hardik and Jadeja have that role in the Indian team," Rayudu said while speaking on a Star Sports show.
Dube's consistency with the bat has enabled him to score 311 runs in 8 matches so far for the Chennai Super Kings at a strike rate of 169.94. He averages a healty 51.83.
Pandya, however, has had a forgettable IPL 2024 so far. His tally of runs in 8 matches stands at 151 at an average of 21.57. As a bowler, he has taken only four wickets at an expensive economy rate of 10.94.
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