Suryakumar Yadav‘s India returned to winning ways in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8s after the defending champions outclassed Zimbabwe by 72 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to set up a virtual quarterfinal clash against the West Indies later this week. However, the victory was far from perfect as the bowling side of things left much to be desired, with the sixth bowling option, Shivam Dube, leaking runs like nobody’s business. The seam-bowling all-rounder conceded 46 runs in the two overs he bowled.
To make matters worse, he ended up dishing out two no-balls and four wides, and this is not a good sign, considering he also gave away runs against South Africa as well. Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons Dube would not have bowled two overs had India been under the cosh against any other team; however, he also said that if going in future, he bowls the same amount of overs, then it could be said for certain that India would not be in a good position.
Dube bowled the final over of the game despite Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya having one over each left in their kitty. The game was over quite early, so Suryakumar decided to trust Dube with the final six balls.
“The sixth bowling option has gone for 46 in two overs. If it were another game, I am not sure he (Dube) bowls those two overs. The skipper knew he was through in terms of the win and just gave him a couple of overs. So I won’t read too much into that, and the rest of the bowling was pretty good. But the way he’s bowling, if he bowls again, it means India are struggling,” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
“They came out with the intention to bowl Zimbabwe out for below 108. But once that didn’t happen, you could see the intensity was lost. But it’s been a great day for India, and they are back in the race to win the World Cup. I still believe they are the best T20 team in the world,” he added.
‘Extras’
Ajinkya Rahane, the Indian batter, said that the most concerning part about Dube’s bowling was the number of extras he delivered. The former India Test captain urged the think tank to devise a new strategy for him if he is to bowl more overs in the competition going forward.
“What will hurt the most for Shivam Dube is the no balls and extras. So if Shivam Dube has to bowl, there needs to be a different strategy for him. He gets that extra bounce and has a good, slower-bouncer. So if he sticks to his own plan of bowling straighter lines with a change of pace, he’ll be really good. But the plan he’s bowling with, wide outside off stump, is not his strength,” said Rahane.
“But he is a very confident guy, even if he went for runs. He’ll still come and tell the captain, ‘ I need the ball, give me the ball.’ So he probably gets upset when he’s not bowling. But he has to understand what his strengths are,” he added.
Speaking of the match between India and Zimbabwe, the former posted 256 runs on the board after being asked to bat first. Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya scored half-centuries for the hosts. Arshdeep Singh then returned with three wickets as Zimbabwe were restricted to 184/6, with Brian Bennett top-scoring with an unbeaten 97.
