An Oddsworth Opinion
How much credit has Shivam Dube's batting actually earned?
Shivam Dube is treated as a supporting act in India's T20 side, and the case that he has earned more than that is a strong one. Across all men's T20s over the last two years he has averaged 32.19 at a strike rate of 153.8, against an average of 23.51 and a strike rate of 130.1 for top-seven batters.
That covers 62 innings, which is far too many to be a purple patch. It is also a step up on what he had done across the rest of a career that began in 2016, so he is getting better at both scoring quickly and staying in.
Where the credit runs out
The reason he is seldom mentioned alongside the leading names lies in the size of his innings. Those two years have brought four fifties and a top score of 66, and he has never made a T20 hundred. Quick thirties and forties lift a total, and they rarely decide a match on their own.
Our ratings reflect that. They have him worth 1.6 runs a match more than an average player, which makes him a good T20 batter and leaves him a long way short of the best.
The England series in July showed both halves of him. He opened it with 42 not out from 21 balls in a match that ended without a result. In the four matches that followed he never passed 22, and India lost every one of them.
Career average 29.6Not out
The bowling is a bonus
His medium pace takes wickets now and then, and it costs runs. He has gone at an economy of 9.88 in the last two years, against 8.01 for bowlers across men's T20s in that time. Against England he was never given more than a single over in a match, and in two of the five he did not bowl at all. No captain is planning an innings around his overs.
The verdict
Dube deserves more credit than he gets as a dependable fast scorer in the middle order, and two years of batting well above the standard for top-seven batters settle that argument. The praise kept for match-winners asks for bigger scores than a best of 66 in two years, and for more than he managed in four defeats to England. The next series against a strong side is where he can earn it.