Dube has scored half-century in each of the two T20Is.
Afghanistan was put into bat by Rohit Sharma, who won the toss. Thanks to 57 by Gulbadin Naib and other contributions, Afghanistan posted 172 runs. Arshdeep Singh took 3/32, while Akshar Patel took 2/17.
In reply, Rohit Sharma got out for a golden duck, and Virat Kohli scored a breezy 29 runs. But Yashasvi Jaiswal (68) and Shivam Dube (63*) took India home in 15.4 overs with 6 wickets in hand. With this win, India also went 2-0 up in the three-match series.
After the match, in a chat, Shivam Dube showed his gratitude towards Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and their skipper MS Dhoni for ‘bringing out the best in him’. Having scored back-to-back half-centuries, the southpaw is making the selectors think about picking him as a back-up for Hardik Pandya.
“The credit goes to the CSK team and Mahi bhai because I have always had the game in me. But bringing out the best from a player is something done by CSK. All the things they have given me, the confidence, they have told me that ‘Shivam, you can score runs in the IPL, don’t worry, we believe in you’. And many others, like Mike Hussey and Fleming, told me that they have faith in me. It was there in my mind,” Dube was quoted as saying on Jio Cinemas.
India’s third and final T20I against the Afghans is on Wednesday, January 17 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.