Shivam Dube impressed everyone with his stunning performance against Gujarat Titans on Tuesday, 26 March at the MA Chidambaram Chepauk Stadium as he fired a quick half-entry, to take the team's total to 206/8, which the hosts were able to defend successfully and hence, earned their second consecutive victory of the season.
Dube scored 51 runs off just 23 balls, with 5 sixes and 2 fours coming off his bat. When he walked in to bat, CSK were two down for 104 runs. Building up a strong partnership with Daryl Mitchell, he took the team to 184/4 before getting caught by Vijay Shankar off Rashid Khan's delivery.
CSK batting coach Mike Hussey, spoke with the press after the end of their second IPL contest and lauded Shivam Dube for his heroics last night. He revealed how the rising star worked on playing short balls, which was his weakness and overcame it.
"Maybe 1-2 years ago, teams would come in and bowl short balls and he would duck his head and the ball woud faint until he got in and set and then he could maybe play some shots against it. Now, bowlers are coming with same plans but he is being able to score off as well and he's been able to find boundaries," said Hussey.
"So that's testament to work that he has put in behind the scenes to be ready for their plans and now it's back on the bowlers. What are they gonna do now? Are they gonna continue with this plan or will they go away and draw something else? We will have to wait.
"But as I said before, I think a lot of credit needs to go to Dube for the man amount of work that he's put in on that particular ball," Hussey added.
Hussey also lauded Ruturaj for his great captaincy skills and said that the young skipper is clear about what he wants to do and what kind of messaging he needs to give to the bowlers.
"To be honest, I think he's been fantastic. He is very well prepared. Him, Fleming, MSD, they get together and told tactics before the game. But I think the way Rutu changes the bowlers around, the fields are very good, he seems very clear," said Hussey while lauding Gaikwad.
He further added, "The messaging to the bowlers is very clear as well. So I think he is taken the job brilliantly at the moment. Now he has got some good support around him but he is a very smart guy as well, a very cricket-savvy guy. He understands the game very well."
Chennai Super Kings beat Gujarat Titans by 63 runs after putting up a total of 206/6 on the board, with two of its batters, Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad, felling short by 4 runs to complete their respective half-centuries while one batter, Shivam Dube, managed to score a half-century.
Titans were restricted to 143/8 after every bowler except Ravindra Jadeja managed to earn at least 1 wicket each. Pacers Mustafizzur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande and Deepak Chahar picked 2 wickets each to help defend the massive total and earn CSK a massive 63-run victory.
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