CSK vs RCB | Player of the Match: Shivam Dube

Left-handed batsman from Mumbai, Shivam Dube, came into IPL with the reputation of being a big-hitter. He was roped in by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019 for ₹5Cr just for this, though he did not do enough justice for his reputation, often batting towards the end with less overs to face.

After representing RCB for two seasons and in 15 matches, he went to Rajasthan Royals for ₹4.40Cr last year before they also released him. His price was ₹40 lakh less, at ₹4Cr, when Chennai Super Kings acquired him in this year’s auctions. He justified the faith CSK had in him, being their consistent scorer at No. 4 along with Robin Uthappa as the other reputed batsmen in the side. However, his scores of 49 and 57 against Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings were not enough to fetch CSK wins.

The trend reversed as Dube scored his highest IPL score in his 29^th IPL match, and fifth for CSK, remaining unbeaten on 95 from just 46 balls with five fours and 10 sixes against his former IPL team, RCB, and CSK won by 23 runs on Tuesday night. What RCB wanted Dube to do for them when they roped him three years ago, they saw that happen against themselves from a more mature and experienced 28-year-old batsman.

At the DY Patil Stadium, where in his previous visit against Sunrisers Hyderabad he scored merely 3 on Saturday, he entertained the 19,000-odd spectators on Tuesday, most of them hardcore CSK fans, with some scintillating hitting.

As the openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa were cautious to start with and the scoring rate was not of the desired levels, Dube joined Uthappa in the seventh over and began to hit sixes straightaway. He started an assault on Glenn Maxwell, depositing him over long-on to bring CSK’s 50 and then picked Sri Lanka leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga for a six and a four in the same region, supposedly the shortest boundary that he targeted.

The only delivery that Dube was tested was the first ball that Hasaranga bowled, a googly that missed the edge of the left-hander. Thereafter, it was all from the middle of Dube’s bat, a majority of them for sixes.

Dube was unlucky to miss his century. One strike was enough to take him there, and he had just the last delivery of the innings to face. He did try, a full toss from Josh Hazlewood was met with the bottom end of the bat and did not travel, the skier being floored at long-off by Faf du Plessis. Dube took his score to 95 not out, the highest for CSK in all IPL matches against RCB, the previous best being 95 by Murali Vijay in the 2011 final.

Dube was truly the CSK star in their first win this season and deserved the man of the match award.