Shivam Dube attributed his all-round performance in the 4 th T20I with Australia to bowling coach Morne Morkel, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and captain Suryakumar Yadav. He hit two important wickets, including Mitchell Marsh and Tim David, and also made a useful contribution of 22 off 18 balls after being promoted to No. 3. According to Dube, the support and guidance which he got with the team management empowered him to pursue his plans positively in the field.
He also added that the posted target India was sufficient as there was depth and balance in their bowling. Dube also said that the bowlers had planned everything accordingly and it became less challenging to defend the total in the Carrara Oval surface. His bat and ball work were essential in helping India win the series by a margin of 48 that assured their victory in the series despite one game to play.
“167 on this ground is definitely a good score because of the quality of bowling we have, the spinners and the fast bowlers. I trust them and the whole team trusts our bowlers. 167 on this ground was definitely a good score because of the quality of bowling we have. When I got the chance, I knew that I had to bowl, especially Morne, Gauti bhai and Surya prepared a good plan for me. Morne also helped me a lot. He gave some small, small tips which made my bowling better,” stated Dube at the post-match press conference, as quoted by Sportstar.
The all-rounder mentioned that the bowling unit’s strategy was straightforward. He admitted that their main goal was to bowl in locations that forced opposing batters to hit towards the longer square boundaries rather than trying to hit straight.
“Definitely, it’s a T20 game and any of the batters can come and smack, but on this ground, where the side boundaries are big, we had planned it very nicely and we had confidence that we can stop them. The plan was to bowl on the sides which have bigger boundaries because it is difficult to hit big. I think the boundaries were 80-metres plus. We knew it wouldn’t be easy to hit. The plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than the small sides,” he added.
India bowled the hosts to 119 in 18.2 overs beating them by a huge margin. They now have Mitchell Marsh to contend with in the conclusion of the series of white-ball games. The fifth and the last match of the series will be held on a Saturday, November 8, at Gabba, Brisbane.
