T20 World Cup: How Dhoni's advice helped Shivam Dube overcome his short-ball weakness

T20 World Cup 2026: Shivam Dube credits MS Dhoni's advice for helping him overcome his short-ball struggles. The all-rounder's 66 against the Netherlands proves how far he's come since those early IPL days.

India all-rounder Shivam Dube opened up about the advice he received from MS Dhoni, which helped improve his game drastically. Early in his career, he struggled with the short ball, but some advice from 'Captain Cool' resulted in a complete turnaround to become the prolific all-rounder he is today.

Speaking in a post-match interview with former India cricketer Parthiv Patel on Star Sports, Dube talked about how the Chennai Super Kings' legend, Dhoni, made a suggestion that changed his perspective altogether. When struggling with a particular delivery, there is a perception that you would only conquer it if you are able to hit it for a six.

The all-rounder admitted that he did work on facing the short ball during his off-season to get to where he is today.

"There was a time when I came to IPL, I was struggling a bit against short balls, at that time I was not able to hit them so cleanly, but then I realized that if I have to dominate at this level and I have that power, then why should I lag because of one thing, so I worked a lot on that thing during the off season," Dube said.

"Mahi bhai had told me that it is not necessary that you have to hit a six on that ball, you can hit a boundary or take a single, so that thing was always in my mind that when I come in at the start," he added.

Dube and Dhoni have shared the CSK dressing room since 2022, and the relationship continues to be strong even today. While Dhoni's playing days might be coming to an end soon, Dube seems to be hitting new highs as India's all-rounder.