Indian cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar has made huge compliments about Shivam Dube claiming that the hard-hitting all-rounder has decisively gone beyond being labelled as a late-order slogger to become a T20 International (T20I) all-rounder in its entirety.
Gavaskar gave his approval after India lost to New Zealand by 50 runs in the third and final T20I at Visakhapatnam (Vizag), and Dube again demonstrated his emerging talents with both bat and ball in the game.
Although India lost in the series decider, Gavaskar cited the increasing maturity and flexibility of Dube in various scenarios at the match as one of the major pluses of the team particularly as the T20 World Cup comes near the horizon.
Vizag, India were already in an awful mess with the top and middle-order wickets gone and were at 63. Dube was brought forward to the batting position earlier than his normal one and this is a testimony to the fact that India is beginning to adjust its strategies according to the situation of the game.
And despite the fact that Rinku Singh went down soon after Dube entered the crease, he was without reliable partners, the 30-year-old used the opportunity. Gavaskar, who was interviewed on Star Sports post the match, pointed out how Dube coped with the pressure.
I have thought he seized the chance very well, Gavaskar said. At six or seven, when you bat, you are likely to have three or four overs with a heavy Indian batting line-up. But early wickets had been lost in India this time, and he was forced to enter sooner.
He had the purpose of the first ball–that first-ball six was as long a one as you will see, straight into the second tier.
That opening six was the prelude to his innings, and Dube continued to play with unchecked violence, scoring an impressive 65 out of 23 balls, with seven sixes and three fours. His scorching rap thrust India off 82 five to 145 six and gave them some hope to the on-field performance that had turned into a complete disaster.
It is notable that Dube became the third-fastest Indian to score a fifty in T20Is, reaching the mark only in his 15th ball, and joins a few other men, including Yuvraj Singh and Abhishek Sharma.
This dramatic performance highlighted exactly the makeup of Dube a change of perception that, despite having been more of a finisher, he could create momentum in the middle overs and emerge as someone who could be relied upon when the pressure was on.
Dube had also succeeded as a bowler and this is another point that Gavaskar highlighted, a factor that has made him highly valuable to the team. Dube bowling statistics have been amazing in the past three years after a promising beginning in his international career with the ball.
His bowling average has decreased to 28.8 in 2024 to 17.91 in 2025, but it is still good in 2026 with an average of 19.66. Dube has bagged 20 wickets in 36 T20I matches in this timeframe with a commendable performance during the Asia Cup 2025 against Pakistan where he opened the bowling and gave only 23 runs in 3 overs.
He has already made three wickets, it is six overs in four games, in the current series against New Zealand, which is a fair haul that reflects his increasing dependability as a bowling alternative.
Gavaskar said that this is what makes him such a valuable player since he can also bowl a couple of overs. And since he entered earlier, he will no longer see himself as one who finishes. He will think that he can make an innings and complete it even in a pressure situation.
As the batting of India failed around him and 165 in 18.4 overs was still not sufficient, as compared to the 215 of New Zealand, the individual performance of Dube once again shone through. His violent motive, coupled with tactical knowledge and growing bowling usefulness, is a pointer to maturation that is hardly witnessed among cricketing professionals at such a tender age in their career in the international arena.
In the case of India, the selectors and coaches, the development of Dube provides them with a major strategic choice before the international tournaments. His versatility in different match scenarios, hitting big with both pace and spin, and providing useful overs, would possibly give India the extra advantage during tight T20 matches.
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The development of Dube is more than an individual genius as Gavaskar pithily expressed it. It is a representation of the richness of T20 India has developed in terms of cricketing and of the fact that there are players who are willing to bear that responsibility when the team needs it the most, a reassuring aspect to a side that is eager to take back its position in the global leadership in the shortest of games.
