‘He has a very important role to play’ – Shivam Dube’s childhood coach backs him to guide India to final

Satish Samant, Shivam Dube’s childhood coach, has backed him and the Mumbai Indians (MI) players in the India XI to play a crucial role in their T20 World Cup semi-final against England at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, March 5.

Dube has been the key to India’s success in the middle order during the course of the tournament. The left-handed batter has scored 166 runs at a strike-rate of 156.60 from six innings. The 32-year-old all-rounder scored two very important boundaries off Shamar Joseph in the 19th over to make sure India got home against the West Indies to secure a place in the last four. 

Samant also stated that the likes of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and other MI players will also be crucial to India’s chances due to their experience of playing on the Wankhede track. 

“I think the players of the Mumbai Indians are more accustomed to playing on this surface, as they have a lot of practice here. Hardik is there, and Suryakumar is the captain. Shivam [Dube] also has a very important role to play,” Samant was quoted as saying on NDTV Sport. 

Similar to the first semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand, Samant believes that the toss could predict the outcome of the game in Mumbai as well. Bowling first during the high-pressure game will be the key to success due to the prevalence of dew, making it harder for bowlers. 

“I think about the semifinal match we watched yesterday. The way New Zealand batted in that game, the pitch may behave in a similar manner. There could be a little extra bounce, and usually fast bowlers get some additional bounce from such a surface,” Samant said.

“If India wins the toss, then bowling first is compulsory as during this season, dew comes and it will be difficult for bowlers to defend a big total, so I think they should choose to bowl after winning the toss,” he added.

India, however, won their only game at the Wankhede Stadium at this T20 World Cup whilst batting first. This came against the United States in their opening game of the campaign where they secured a 29-run victory.