Sunil Gavaskar slams Shivam Dube for his poor bowling

Defending champions Chennai haven’t made an ideal start to their Indian T20 League 2022 campaign. Ravindra Jadeja and Co. lost their second consecutive match against Lucknow by 6 wickets on Thursday at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

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On a batting paradise at Brabourne Stadium, Chennai managed to notch a mammoth 210-run total. Robin Uthappa (50 off 27) gave the team a blistering start with the bat. Playing only his second match for Chennai, Shivam Dube played a gem of a knock. He missed out on a half-century by just one run. Besides, crucial cameos from MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, in the end, helped the team post a par score on the board.

Lucknow also batted brilliantly in the second innings and the game was evenly poised until Chennai handed the ball to Shivam Dube in the penultimate over. Shivam Dube hadn’t bowled a single over in that game and with dew around, it was never going to be easy.

As it turned out, the 28-year old all-rounder was smashed for 25 runs in that over and, with that, the equation came down to only 9 runs needed in the final over. Lucknow chased down the score with three balls left in the match.

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'He clearly hasn’t learnt anything, Shivam Dube'- Sunil Gavaskar

Shivam Dube, who had a great day with the bat, conceded as many as 25 runs in the 19th over. Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar wasn’t too pleased with the Indian all-rounder’s bowling performance. Highlighting his poor display with the ball, Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports:

“He has played a fair bit of limited-overs cricket and he is still bowling those length balls. He is going to get punished. Of course, it’s not fair that somebody who has not bowled so far is given the 19th over when the batsmen are looking to play the shots. But look at it… it’s a length ball. He is bowling the slower delivery but a slower delivery is very useful on a turning, dry pitch. Not on a pitch where the ball is coming off the bat quite nicely,”

Apparently, the legendary Indian cricketer was not happy with how Shivam Dube executed the penultimate over of the match.  During his time at the commentary box, he also spoke on the fact that Chennai’s calculation of who to give the all-important 19^th over went completely wrong.

Chennai are slated to play their third match against Punjab on Sunday at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.