In 2023, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube made quite a mark, especially in T20 matches. Soon, BCCI will count them in their central contracts. They were part of India’s gold-winning Asian Games team in 2023. They’re expected to be key players in the 2024 T20 World Cup too.
Yashasvi Jaiswal began his international career in 2023, during a tour of the West Indies. This happened after a standout IPL season that same year. Since then, he’s held a spot in the teams for T20I and Test matches, playing regularly.
Dube, however, has returned with a bang to the scheme of things following a lackluster international career debut. With two straight fifty-score scores in the current home T20I series against Afghanistan, he has established a compelling case for himself.
“The selectors and the team management want him to bowl more and more, as that adds immense value to Dube as a player. This is why he is bowling a fair bit during this series. If he can chip in with a few overs with the ball, he can cement his place in the side for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA. This is crucial because he is the ideal backup to the injury-prone Hardik Pandya,” a reliable source in the BCCI told TOI.
Dube has taken two wickets while bowling in his two matches against Afghanistan thus far. In the second Twenty20 International in Indore, when the bowlers faced challenging circumstances, he was even assigned the task of delivering the last over.
He had recorded figures of 2-13 and 4-10 in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy opening match against Bihar in Patna before to the start of the T20I series.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube’s half-centuries help India seal T20I series vs Afghanistan
With one game remaining, Team India defeated Afghanistan at home thanks to fifty-score efforts from the in-form duo. On a level playing field, Yashasvi Jaiswal had to chase down 173, and he hammered 68 runs off of 34 deliveries.
Shivam Dube, batting at number four, kept on his excellent form, scoring 63 runs off of 32 deliveries without a loss. With more than four overs remaining, the left-handed duo helped the hosts reduce the score with a 92-run partnership for the third wicket.