IND vs AFG: Shivam Dube joins Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya after his sublime 50 against Afghanistan

IND vs AFG: Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 60-run knock against Afghanistan at the IS Bindra Stadium kept Team India hot in the chilly weather of Mohali. The all-rounder took India over the rope in the 1st T20I held between India and Afghanistan and also bagged the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Chasing the modest 158 runs total in Mohali, Team India found themselves in a spot of bother midway through the innings. After the fall of Shubman Gill in the 4th over, the Indian team went into the rebuilding phase with young Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube in the middle.

The two batters did exceptionally well to negate any threats posed by the Afghans, however, as soon as Tilak looked settled, he too perished away. Post Varma’s wicket, wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma walked into the middle and played a fine 31-run knock to reach closer to the total, however, he too didn’t hold his end till the last as Rinku Singh had to walk and slam a 9-ball 16 runs to take India over the rope.

Amidst all this, Shivam Dube held his end since the fourth over, The left-handed all-rounder remained unbeaten in the chase as he scored 60 runs in 40 deliveries with the help of 5 fours and 2 sixes.

Along with his batting prowesses, which were displayed last night, Dube also managed to scalp a wicket with the ball in hand. The all-rounder got Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran’s wicket in the 9th over.

For his all-rounder performance in the India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I, Shivam Dube was adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match.’

IND vs AFG: Shivam Dube enters list of Players with 50 & a Wicket

Meanwhile, along with his ‘Player of the Match’ accolade, Shivam Dube has also joined the likes of Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Yuvraj Singh in the elite list of players who have scored a half-century and picked a wicket in a game.

Yuvraj Singh became the first player to achieve this feat back in 2009 and he managed to pull it off a couple of times in the coming years. Virat Kohli joined Yuvraj Singh on the list in 2012 against Pakistan, while Hardik Pandya’s entry was registered in 2022.

Now Shivam Dube has become the fourth Indian to achieve such a feat in the shortest format of cricket.

Below is the list of Indian players who have scored a 50 and picked a wicket in a T20I game:

ALSO READ: IND vs AFG, Funny Moment: Rohit Sharma forgets the name of his teammate once again at the toss between India and Afghanistan