Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Shivam Dube for scoring a match-winning fifty in the fourth T20I against England. He added that people were making fun of his selection in the Indian T20I team as well. Dube scored 53 runs off 34 deliveries as India set England an 182-run target in Pune on Friday, January 31 as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Shivam Dube survived on the first ball. A catch was dropped, it was difficult but it was dropped. After that, the way he batted, and comebacks are difficult. We have been repeatedly saying that everyone had forgotten him, that there was a player named Shivam Dube who was part of the champion team and scored runs in the (2024 T20 World Cup) final. No one was asking about him. He recently got out for zero in both innings for Mumbai, and people were making fun as to why he was selected. It’s a different format and he has come after doing well in T20s. He batted and scored a half-century. That was absolutely brilliant.”

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In the same video, Aakash Chopra appreciated all-rounder Hardik Pandya for playing a good knock.

“Hardik Pandya, how well he batted. Puneri power, Pandya power, it was absolutely sensational. He hit a no-look shot and then a helicopter shot. The kind of control that he is showing, there is a bit of arrogance as well. It’s a happy arrogance, which you can misunderstand at times. There is that quiet confidence which is not so quiet also. It’s in your face but it’s also quiet because he is not talking. He scored his runs at a strike rate of close to 200 and went beyond 50,” Aakash Chopra concluded.