OPINION
Follow Us“It’s happened again, it’s happened againnnnnnnnn, Royal Challengers Bangalore, it’s happened again.”
Yes, it’s happened again. Someway, somehow, RCB have found a way to lose against the Chennai Super Kings. Make that 10 defeats in 12 meetings since 2015.
The Royal Challengers have suffered many gut-wrenching losses against the Super Kings in the above-mentioned period, but this one will certainly sting, even though it was a largely one-sided affair.
Entering into the contest, not only did RCB look like they were the best all-round side in the entire competition, CSK were in the worst run of form in their history, winless and confidence-less after four games.
And yet, it happened. CSK found a way to win, that too comprehensively, after being on the ropes 7 overs into the contest.
Will this particular result prove to be a significant one in the context of the season? Perhaps, it’s too early to tell.
What’s not premature to claim, though, is this: after years of toiling, Shivam Dube has finally found a franchise that he can call home; a team where he fits like a glove. Coincidence or not, it was in a way fitting that he ended up announcing himself to the world against a franchise that did everything it could to not get the best out of him.
Let’s not go down that route, though. Let’s not make this about ‘payback’. For that’s not what Tuesday was about.
Tuesday was about Dube continuing to vindicate the Super Kings’ endless faith in him. Tuesday was about Dube showing the world why the selectors so keenly fast-tracked him into the national set-up three years ago.
Cast your mind back to the happenings at the auction table. When the Super Kings purchased Dube for a staggering amount of INR 4 crore, their fans went mild. And for reasons that were justifiable.
At the time of his purchase, in 3 seasons and 22 innings in the IPL, Dube had averaged 22.17 while striking at 120.5. For three years, there was nothing he did consistently well, and his actual numbers probably warranted only about 10% of the 4 crore CSK paid.
But as we observed in one of our post-auction pieces, the move from Chennai to go after Dube felt like a calculated one. The primary reason being his ability to be a basher in the middle-overs, particularly against spin.
In IPL 2021, only Glenn Maxwell hit more sixes in the middle-overs versus the spinners than Dube, while no batsman hit a six (versus spin in overs 7-15) as frequently as the southpaw (a six every 9.3 balls). Clearly, there was something to him. You don’t top peculiar six-hitting charts without having a certain amount of x-factor.
This x-factor, though, only made a fleeting appearance in the 2021 season. Overall, his stint with RR was more a miss than a hit as he ended the season with an average of 28.75 and a SR of 119.2, playing just a couple of impactful cameos.
However, thus far in IPL 2022, it has not just been recurring but also sustained. In 5 innings, Dube has three 45+ scores and he now, quite astonishingly, is second in the running for the orange cap, having accumulated 207 runs at a strike rate of 176.92. On Tuesday, he posted his highest ever T20 score, falling agonizingly short of a maiden hundred.
So, what has changed?
Taking nothing away from Dube and the evident improvements he’s made, the southpaw, thus far, has been used perfectly by the Super Kings, who have given him the ideal role to thrive and make a significant impact.
CSK have identified the middle-overs as Dube’s phase — the period where he can inflict maximum damage — and have almost exclusively deployed him as a middle-overs enforcer.
So far this season, the 28-year-old has faced 117 balls. In that, quite remarkably, he’s faced 75% of the deliveries (88/117) in the 7-15 phase. To Dube’s credit, he’s delivered — big time.
At this stage of the season, no one has scored more runs in overs 7-15 than the Mumbaikar, who’s averaged 70 and is striking at nearly 160 in the middle-overs.
What’s fascinating about these numbers is just how much Dube has improved versus pace. 53 of the 88 balls Dube has faced in the middle-overs has been spin, against which he’s struck at 145.3. Interestingly, however, he’s taken a huge liking to pace, taking 63 runs off 35 balls at a stellar strike rate of 180.
In fact, overall against pace, Dube has been striking at 198.3 whilst managing to average nearly 40. These numbers are nothing like what he managed in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, where he was largely a walking wicket against good seam bowling.
Versus RCB, though, he did not spare both bowling types, striking at over 175 against each. Fittingly, it was a lusty blow against the off-spin of Maxwell that got his innings going.
It is important to highlight the role played by the CSK management here because both RR and RCB were simply not flexible in the way they used Dube.
At Rajasthan, Dube batted at No.4 irrespective of the situation. In 6 of the 9 innings he batted, the southpaw was at the crease inside the first six overs. Unsurprisingly he struggled, managing just 22 in the 33 balls he faced in the powerplay.
In comparison, this time around, Dube has faced only 3 balls inside the first six and has been at the crease during the powerplay only once — against the Punjab Kings, where CSK lost 4 wickets inside the first six.
Meanwhile, RCB almost exclusively used the southpaw as a finisher. It didn’t also help that he barely got a good run with a fixed role donning the Red jersey.
The role CSK have handed Dube this season has enabled him to largely start his innings off against spin — where his comfort zone lies — get his eye in and then tee off against the quicks. On Tuesday, we witnessed just how explosive he could be when he settles.
All said and done, though, for CSK, despite the victory against RCB and despite Dube’s heroics, the grim reality is that their playoff hopes are still hanging by a thread, thanks to the horror start they endured. But even if they fail to make the top four, they can take pride in the fact that they’ve managed to do something that no other team has managed to do — get the best out of Shivam Dube.
