Shivam Dube has turned heads with his striking ability

Allrounder knows he has to do more to cement his place in the Indian team

Shivam Dube, 26, is the latest entrant to the elite club of cricketers who have donned the National colours when he made his debut in the T20I series against Bangladesh recently.

The allrounder gave a good account of himself, picking up three wickets with his medium-pace in the series decider in Nagpur. His efforts not only ensured he retained his place in the T20 set-up, but also received his maiden ODI call-up for the upcoming series against the West Indies.

Chipping in

Turning out for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here, Dube has chipped in with cameos with both bat and ball at crucial stages in the victories against Jharkhand and Karnataka.

Dube found himself wearing the India Blue after first-choice medium-pace all-rounder Hardik Pandya was forced out of the game due to injury.

The youngster knows that he needs to do more to cement his place in the side, with Tamil Nadu allrounder Vijay Shankar waiting in the wings.

Working on fitness

“Being an allrounder, I need to stay a lot fitter. So I have ensured that I put in the hard hours to maintain my fitness and I have always tried to enhance my skills as an all-rounder,” he said in a chat here.

Standing tall — he is more than six feet — Dube has turned heads with his timing and ball striking, drawing comparisons with Yuvraj Singh.

Asked whether he seems himself as a specialist in one area with the other an add-on skill, the youngster responded, “I would like to believe that when I am batting, I can compete with the best of bowlers and while I am bowling, I would want to believe that I compete with the best of batsmen."

Going forward, workload management will be the key. “When I am not playing a match or tournament, I focus on my bowling. But if I am in between a tournament or a match, I concentrate on the skills that I have and try and improve upon it.

“It gets difficult sometimes as an allrounder because I have to spread my time between bowling and batting, but I try and do my best,” said Dube.

The newest face in the India dugout looks ready for a long innings, going by his temperament and work-ethic.

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