Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa believes Shivam Dube is not fully fit for ODI cricket. Dube is part of India’s T20I squad for the World Cup but hasn’t received his chances in the 50-over version. The Mumbai all-rounder has thus far played four ODIs for India, in which he has scored 43 runs and has scalped one wicket.
Dube has scored 1121 runs in 62 List A matches at an average of 35.03 and he would need to prove his mettle to get ahead in the pecking order for ODIs. Hardik Pandya is currently India’s number one seam-bowling all-rounder in the white-ball version and the team management is trying to groom Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Robin Uthappa said on his YouTube Channel, “You know, Shivam, I do not think he is fully fit for ODI cricket. I do not think his body can manage the length of an entire match. He is not the quickest guy on the field. That said, I do want to say he has improved. His fitness has improved, his speed has probably gone up by 5 to 10 percent, and his bowling speed has also increased slightly. His running speed, which earlier felt very heavy for an athlete, has improved after working on it.”
“But I feel he has reached the upper limit of that scale. T20 is sustainable for him. And I think he is a deceptive bowler now. When he comes on to bowl, batters think they need to target him and score runs off him, and in that process, he ends up taking wickets. That is where he gets his wickets,” he added.
On the other hand, in the same discussion, Irfan Pathan said he doesn’t expect Hardik Pandya to bowl his complete quota of 10 overs in ODIs.
He said, “Even if he (Hardik) bowls, say, eight overs, that will do the job in ODI cricket. You do not expect him to bowl 10 overs. If he does, great. But even if he gives you seven- eight regularly, you don’t want anything else.”
Pathan said the management needs to back Nitish Kumar Reddy in the absence of Hardik Pandya.
“Among all-rounders, you have Hardik. Hardik has missed quite a few big tournaments at crucial stages. The 2018 Asia Cup due to injury, the 2023 World Cup, the Asia Cup final, all because of injuries. So you need to fully back Nitish Kumar Reddy. You need that. And if you feel he does not have that ability, then you look at another all-rounder, someone like Shivam Dube, who plays T20 cricket.”
Pandya will be seen in action in the T20I series against New Zealand.
