File photo of Shivam Dube (left) and Hardik Pandya.© X (formerly Twitter)
As the T20 World Cup is nearing, more and more former cricketers and experts are sharing their opinions regarding the India squad that is set to be selected for the mega event. The team is likely to be announced by the end of this month with the players’ form in the ongoing Indian Premier League definitely going to have a say in selection. Ahead of the team announcement, former India cricketer and ex-Chennai Super Kings star Ambati Rayudu has opined that Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya are not competing for the same spot as the two have different roles to play in the marquee tournament.
“Both of them are not competing for the same spot. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are finishers in the Indian team, and Shivam Dube is the kind of batter who comes in at No. 4 or 5. When the spinners are operating and conditions are slow, he can hit boundaries and accelerate to change the game. But between overs 16 and 20, Dube’s strike rate isn’t that high, he fails to hit that many runs. So I feel Hardik and Jadeja have that role in the Indian team,” Rayudu said on Star Sports.
Dube is having a terrific IPL season, scoring 311 runs in the first 8 matches for CSK. While his average so far is 51.83, Dube’s strike rate is 169.95.
There is no doubt that he has put a case for his selection with his terrific performance.
On the other hand, Hardik has had a poor campaign so far. He has scored only 151 runs across 8 matches at an average of 21.57. In bowling, Hardik has managed to take only 4 wickets while he has conceded runs close to 11 per over.
On the captaincy front too, Hardik has been poor and Mumbai Indians won only three of the first eight matches played.
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