The two-paced track of the Nassau County Cricket Stadium continues to bamboozle batters with Shivam Dube acknowledging the challenge by quipping it felt similar to batting in the Ranji Trophy back home.
On Wednesday, India took on USA in their penultimate Group A match of the 2024 T20 World Cup and were made to work hard in chasing down a small target of 111.
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The former champions lost their top-three for not much before Suryakumar Yadav and Dube dropped anchor to see them over the line.
Dube, known for his six-hitting prowess, managed 9 off 15 deliveries before finally clearing the boundary off Corey Anderson in the 15th over of the chase.
“It felt like (playing) Ranji Trophy. I don’t think in white ball,” quipped Dube. “Conditions dictate how you want to play here (New York). You have to choose your best shot to hit a six. Today, I was waiting for that opportunity. It’s not easy to come here and start hitting from ball one; you have to take your time.”
Dube stormed into world cup contention by playing a series of eye-catching knocks for Chennai Super Kings during IPL 2024 while batting in the middle. Known for his ability to smack spinners at will, the allrounder also showed he has also worked on his game to deal with the fast bowlers.
Dube hasn’t been able to blaze away in the world cup so far and a major part of it is due to the conditions in New York which he feels require a different gameplan.
“Obviously I miss six-hitting at CSK and in India…it’s difficult to bat here in these conditions and in the nets as well. It is definitely better to bowl here, I would have bowled more but was hit for a six and didn’t get opportunity,” Dube said.
Dube made 14 in the practice match against Bangladesh followed by an unbeaten 0 against Ireland and 3 vs Pakistan before 35-ball 31* against USA.
Dube says he doesn’t want to forget his struggles in the world cup.
“I won’t delete this from my memory because this is my first World Cup. Only batting is difficult — be it chasing or batting first. But we had a good partnership and we finished early so I would say chasing was little easier as we won today,” he said.
“The ball is skidding, staying low, keeping sideways and some are coming very fast off the pitch — it’s doing all sorts of things. So, it’s difficult to judge. I don’t think you have ever seen this in a T20 World Cup,” he added.
Talking about his his successive failures against Ireland and Pakistan, Dube said, “I was struggling with my form and focusing on my process.”
“But here, there was no pressure. All the support staff and coaches backed me and told me, ‘It’s difficult, but you have the ability to hit sixes, so apply it.’ I’ve never doubted myself for what I’ve done in the past. I just think that these conditions do not demand what I’ve done at CSK. These conditions require a different approach, so I was batting differently today,” he added.
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