'He should be there because...' - Aakash Chopra backs CSK star to return to Team India based on IPL 2023 performance

Team CSK & Aakash Chopra (Source: Twitter)

With some spectacular performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh have caught the attention of the cricket fraternity and they are surely in the queue to make their debut for India. Other players like Jitesh Sharma and Tilak Varma have also been included in the discussions about future Indian stars. Former cricketers and experts have already begun to back the young players to don the blue jersey right after the end of IPL 2023.

However, amid the pool of young talent, one has to wonder if a 29-year-old's return to the Indian T20I side is being overlooked. Shivam Dube, who played 14 white-ball games for India between 2019 and 2020, is currently the third highest run-scorer for his team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The left-hander has scored 363 runs in 13 innings, with 254 of them coming in the middle innings (7-15) at a strike rate of 155, which ranks third among Indian batters who have faced at least 120 deliveries this season during that phase.

When most of the batters struggle to find runs in the middle overs, Dube has hit 22 maximums, with each of those coming at a rate of 7.4 deliveries. In total, he has hit 30 sixes this season - the joint second-most - coming every 7.7 balls, the best by any Indian batter this season (min. 120 balls). Seeing these stunning figures, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has backed the Mumbai cricketer to make a comeback to Indian team.

He is perhaps hitting the best sixes: Chopra

Responding to a Hindustan Times query on whether Dube was being overlooked among the next generation players, Chopra, IPL expert with Jio Cinemas, pointed to the all-rounder's six-hitting abilities this season.

"It's a very good name to be honest. I liked the way he batted. If India look to play that brand of T20 cricket then Shivam Dube should be there because he is hitting sixes. He is perhaps hitting the best sixes in the tournament so far. So add his name to that list as well," the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter said.

Former India wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa, who shared the dressing room with Dube at CSK last year, highlighted that the big-hitter has improved his game against fast bowlers.

"You can see the effort from him compared to where he was last year. There were certain glaring issues as far as his batting against fast bowlers was concerned and that improvement is noticeable right from the beginning of the season to this point where you can see that he is not backing away to the fast bowlers," he said.

"He is holding his position and sometimes even coming inside the line and playing the hook and pull shots and that takes a lot of courage. He has always been a great player of spin bowling and is a massive six hitter," Uthappa added.