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“It was incredible” – Aakash Chopra lauds Shivam Dube’s match-winning knock
By SMCS - Apr 13, 2022 1:40 pm
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Former India opener turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has picked Shivam Dube as the star performer in last night’s match between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He smashed an unbeaten 95 off just 46 balls to help CSK set a huge total of 217 runs for RCB. The defending champions then restricted RCB to a score of 193/9 to register their first win of IPL 2022.

Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube smashed a huge six

While observing that, Chopra named Shivam Dube as the standout performer. He said in a video shared on his YouTube channel: “There were a lot of contenders – you can talk about Dube, you can talk about Robin Uthappa, you can talk about Theekshana because he also picked up four wickets. What about Jadeja – took a catch and picked up three wickets as well. He has done his bit as well. So there were plenty of those performers but I am going with Shivam Dube – Shivam Sundaram.”

He again added that Dube was unfortunate not to score his maiden IPL century. He observed: “How well the guy batted, he was in RCB earlier, then went to Rajasthan Royals and now he has come to Chennai. The way he batted, the fashion in which he has batted in the entire season, he was so close to getting to his century.”

Shivam Dube needed six runs off the last ball of CSK’s innings to reach the three-figure mark and he even got a juicy full toss from Josh Hazlewood but he mistimed and it didn’t go over the rope. Although Faf du Plessis failed to grab the catch, Dube could only get a single. Aakash Chopra also added that Dube’s big-hitting style is somewhat similar to former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. Dube added together with a 165-run third-wicket partnership with Robin Uthappa after CSK were reduced to 36/2 in the seventh over.

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“It was incredible, the sixes he was hitting straight down the ground, he reminds you a little bit about Yuvraj Singh. He has a high backlift, a good bat swing, the bat comes down and the ball goes up and far. Skyscraper sixes, I feel one or two balls went from Navi Mumbai to Panvel. He batted exceedingly well. He managed Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj – he hit everyone in a democratic fashion. Well done Shivam Dube,” Aakash Chopra shared.

However, while talking about Chennai Super Kings’ batting performance, he pointed out that they had gotten off to a slow start. Chopra explained: “They did not get off to a good start, it was actually very slow, Chennai were crawling at the start. Ruturaj Gaikwad got out playing a bad shot, he didn’t have another good knock. Robin Uthappa was there with him, his start was also slow. After that, Moeen Ali comes and he gets run out. Everyone felt this is it. Only 60 runs were scored off the first 10 overs. Robin Uthappa and Shivam Dube were taking their time and trying to remain in the match.”

csk pbks

He continued: “And here there was a change in the game. All the bowlers were dismissed – whether it was Shivam Dube or Robin Uthappa. Uthappa told that he still has cricket left in him and that he is a special player. Robbie was brilliant and Shivam Dube did an amazing job. CSK reached 216 for the loss of four wickets.”

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Aakash Chopra also opened up on RCB’s run-chase also where Du Plessis and Kohli got out very cheaply. He also praised Shahbaz Ahmed and Suyash Prabhudessai for taking on the CSK bowlers.

He said, “It seemed there will be a fight but nothing like that happened because Faf got out at the start. Theekshana’s mystery made Faf history, I mean for this match. After that, Kohli finds the only fielder in the deep off Mukesh Choudhary’s short ball. Maxwell comes and plays a few big shots but then he falls prey to Jaddu (Jadeja). Anuj Rawat gets out and it seemed this team might not even make 125 but they started fighting from there – whether it was Shahbaz or Prabhudessai – both of them batted well, took the attack to the opposition.”

“But after that, wickets were going on falling. It seemed RCB were going to lose by a huge margin, around 60-80 runs, almost an innings defeat. RCB ensured that it was not a big margin. They lost but saved their honor. Losing by just 23 runs is not too bad, considering that you were chasing 216 and you were 50/4. Karthik’s knock – he is playing tiny knocks, he got out for the first time in the tournament but till the time he was there, it seemed at one point that a miracle might happen. He actually allowed you to dream and believe that it is possible,” Aakash Chopra concluded.