Why India Sent Shivam Dube At No. 3? Suryakumar Yadav Says, ‘Will Try It Again’ | Cricket News

Captain Suryakumar Yadav defended India’s decision to send middle-order batter Shivam Dube at number three against Bangladesh in Wednesday’s Super-Four clash of the 2025 Asia Cup Super-Four. Dube tried a couple of big hits but mistimed a loft against Rishad Hossain to get out for just 2 (3).

Suryakumar explained that the plan was to proactively counter Bangladesh’s spinners, including Hossain, and even though it didn’t work, they won’t shy away from trying it again if the opportunity arises.

“Looking at their bowling line-up, they had a left-arm spinner and a leg spinner. I think Dube was perfect for that occasion in that 7-15 overs range. It didn’t work today, but going ahead, if we get the chance, we will try it again,” Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings used Dube in that fashion, targeting the opposition’s spinners in the middle overs. That’s the image of a spin-hitter who played a big role in his India comeback.

After Dube’s wicket, India didn’t build enough momentum, and it was mostly due to Abhishek Sharma’s 75 (37) at the top of the order that they could reach a par score of 168/6. Suryakumar was still glad that he was asked to bat first because his team wanted to gauge how they performed.

“We didn’t get to bat first in this tournament. I think we batted first against Oman, but we wanted to bat first in the Super Fours and see how it goes… If the outfield would have been really fast, it would have been 180-185 but with the bowling line-ups we have, if we bowl 12-14 good overs, we will win on most occasions,” he added.

Dube wasn’t the only one who was pulled out of his usual spot. Tilak Varma, usually the number three, was demoted to number six and Axar Patel, usually a number five, came down at seven. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, who was an opener before this tournament and pushed to the middle order for it, didn’t bat at all.