MUMBAI: Even as Tilak Varma is rightly winning all the accolades for his match-winning knock of 69 not out against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final in Dubai on Sunday night, Shivam Dube’s vital contribution to India’s memorable five-wicket triumph in the thrilling summit clash against the arch-rivals in a high-pressure match cannot be forgotten or ignored. Bowling with the new ball in the absence of star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Dube conceded just 23 in his three overs. More importantly, walking in with India and the match delicately placed at 77 for four in the 13th over, Dube smashed a superb 33 off 22 balls, laced with two massive sixes and an equal number of fours each, while sharing a 60-run fifth wicket partnership with Varma that decided the fate of the final.
One man who was mighty pleased with Dube’s fine show was Satish Samant, who trained the India and Mumbai allrounder at his Sanjeevani Cricket Academy in Bandra when the 32-year-old, a resident of Andheri East suburb, was a budding cricketer.“He was 17 when his father (Rajesh Dube) first brought him to my academy. When he was 10 or 11 years old, he would go to practice at the Chandrakant Pandit Coaching Clinic. However, after training there for one or two years, he quit cricket completely at the age of 13,” Samant told TOI on Monday.“Four years later, he came to my academy. Seeing his impressive height and build, he is six feet four inches tall. I wanted him to become a seamer. So, I focused on his bowling. When I saw him bat in the nets, I saw potential in him becoming a good allrounder, as I myself was an allrounder.”Samant was the Mumbai head coach in the Irani Cup (2009-10), Rajasthan Royals assistant coach in the IPL (2009-2010), and the head coach of the Mumbai Under-17 (2005-08), Under-19 (2008-14) and Under-22 (2009-10) teams in the past.Recalling Dube’s journey from that point when he came under his wings, Samant said, “A year later, I took him in the Air India team under scholarship and got him to play for Karnatak Sporting (at Cross Maidan, in local cricket), since I coached both the teams. Then, he received an offer from DY Patil. Since he was playing in ‘C’ Division (in Mumbai’s local cricket) for Air India, I told him to join DY Patil, where he would have got exposure to the DY Patil T20 and various other local tournaments.“He then joined DY Patil, and took a six-wicket haul and scored 36 not out in the DY Patil T20 final for them. He was named as the ‘Player of the Final.’ He was then picked for Mumbai, RCB, Rajasthan Royals and then Chennai Super Kings, and then went on to play for India.”Decoding the secret of his ward’s six-hitting ability, Samant added, “It’s his big reach. He’s got long levers, which enable him to hit the ball a long way. You can see shades of Yuvraj Singh in his batting, but he has never copied Yuvraj, this is his natural flair.”“Shivam’s a hard-working, sincere, down-to-earth boy. He’s polite and talks respectfully, which is a rare quality amongst today’s top cricketers. He had potential, but it is his hardwork, sincerity and sacrifice for the game which has seen him play for India. He worked on his fitness to shed off a few extra kilos that weighed earlier. His father too has put in a lot of effort for him. He’s a focused boy, who will fulfil the role you give to him. He will play for India for a long time,” the coach praised.Samant complimented Dube for stepping up his game in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who missed out on the final due to a quadriceps injury. “Yesterday, he changed the game. It wasn’t just about hitting the big shots, he rotated the strike well too. If we had lost a wicket when he arrived at the crease, we would’ve come under pressure. He responded to the situation perfectly. With Hardik not being there in the final, there was pressure on Shivam to deliver, and he responded to the challenge superbly. I thought he bowled well too,” Samant asserted.“It’s unfortunate that he was out caught on the boundary, otherwise he would’ve finished off the game. It was almost a six,” the 58-year-old added.
