T20 World Cup: How Shivam Dube’s bat helped Abhishek Sharma regain form

Abhishek Sharma credits Shivam Dube’s bat for his T20 World Cup revival, leading India to a historic victory.

“I have played such a long innings after a long time, so I am having cramps. Sorry guys.” Abhishek Sharma — India’s marauding opener — was candid enough to admit that as he excused himself early from the post-match media interaction. His opening partner Ishan Kishan continued to field questions from a large media contingent well past 1 a.m., hours after India sealed a historic Men’s T20 World Cup triumph.

Abhishek had entered the tournament as a prime contender for the Player of the Tournament award. But by the time India reached the knockouts, the narrative had shifted to his loss of form. Captain Suryakumar Yadav had publicly backed him, saying: “Since he has carried the burden of the team on his shoulders for so long, it’s time for us to do the same when he is going through a tough patch.”

A tally of 89 runs from eight innings — including a lone half-century against Zimbabwe — at a strike rate hovering around 130 had raised questions. On Sunday night, though, Abhishek turned the tide emphatically.

His blistering 21-ball 52 laid the platform for India’s emphatic 96-run win over New Zealand, making India the first team to defend the T20 World Cup, the first to win it at home and the first to claim the title three times.

Abhishek, however, credited Shivam Dube — one of India’s unsung heroes of the campaign for the second successive edition — for playing a small but crucial role in the turnaround.

“Today I batted with Shivam Dube’s bat, so thank you Dube,” Abhishek said. “In the morning I felt like trying something different. Shubman (Gill) was not around, so I walked up to Dube and picked his bat.”