'He can become RCB's lead bowler' - Twitter trolls Shivam Dube for conceding 34 runs in an over

India whitewashed New Zealand in the five-match T20I series. The Men in Blue registered a convincing win in the final game of the series by 7 runs. It was a great day for the Virat Kohli-less Team India at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. But, for Shivam Dube, it turned out to be a nightmare game as he was smacked for 34 runs in his one over.

Rohit Sharma led the team in Kohli’s absence and opted to bat after winning the toss. Sanju Samson was given another big chance to open the innings with Rohit Sharma coming on to bat at number three. However, the Kerala batsman failed to utilise the opportunity as he got out after scoring two runs off Scott Kuggeleijn in the second over of the innings.

Rohit then came to bat and looked in full flow as he smacked Black Caps bowlers’ all across the park. Rohit (60 runs off 31 balls) and KL Rahul (45 runs off 33 balls) stitched a brilliant partnership of 88 runs for the second wicket. Later on, he pulled his calf muscle while batting due to which he got retired hurt. The brilliant stand between the duo helped Team India in posting a competitive score of 163 runs for a loss of three wickets in stipulated 20 overs. Shreyas Iyer also contributed well with the bat as he muscled 33* runs off 31 balls.

Shivam Dube bowls the costliest over in the 5th T20I

The hosts’ got off to a worse possible start as they lost their in-form opener, Martin Guptill, in the second over of the innings. Colin Munro also failed to click a good knock with the bat, who was castled by Washington Sundar. Team India got another big breakthrough on the back of brilliant fielding effort of Sanju Samson that run Tom Bruce out in the fourth over of the innings. New Zealand was left struggling for a score of 17 runs with a loss of three wickets.

Later on, Ross Taylor and Tim Siefert built a dangerous-looking partnership for the fourth wicket. Soon, they got settled and acquired an aggressive approach against Indian bowlers. Shivam Dube, the young Indian all-rounder was the first, who had to face the adverse effect of the merciless hitting of Taylor and Siefert in the 10 over of the innings.

Dube was introduced in the bowling attack as he replaced Shardul Thakur in the 10th over of the innings. He didn’t get off to a good start as Siefert smacked him for two back to back sixes and a boundary in his first three deliveries. The right-handed Kiwi wicket-keeper took a single on the next ball. There was still a lot of drama left in the over.

Taylor, who came on the strike, hammered Dube for a boundary on the fifth delivery that was adjudged no-ball. The right-hander then made the full use of the free hit and he smashed the ball into the stands for a six followed by the fourth maximum over the deep square boundary. The Indian seaming all-rounder ended up giving 34 runs in his first over that turned out to be the costliest in the match.

The equation came down to 66 off the last 10 overs after Dube’s over which left the Indian fans fuming over the cricketer. Though India came back in the game and won it eventually, Shivam Dube was trolled on Twitter for his poor bowling.

Here is how Twitter reacted: