All-rounder Shivam Dube claimed that India’s score was sufficient given the size of the ground, and the bowlers flawlessly carried out their strategies to defeat Australia in the fourth Twenty20 International at the Carrara Oval in Queensland on Thursday.
India defeated Australia by 48 runs, defending a low score with a dominant bowling display to grab an unbeatable 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
“167 on this ground is definitely a good score because the quality bowling we have, the spinners, the fast bowlers…I trust them and the whole team trust our bowlers,” Dube said at the post-match press conference.
“Definitely it’s a T20 game and any of the batter can come and smack but on this ground where the side boundaries are big, we had planned it very nicely and we had confidence that we can stop them.”
“The plan was to bowl on the sides which have bigger boundaries because it is difficult to hit big, I think the boundaries were 80m plus,” Dube said while elaborating on India’s bowling plans.
“We knew it won’t be easy to hit how much you may connect. Plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than small ones.”
Dube claimed that his confidence came from the strong support he had as a bowler from chief coach Gautam Gambhir, bowling coach Morne Morkel, and T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav.
“When I got the chance I knew that I had to bowl. Morne, Gauti bhai and Surya prepared a good plan for me.
“Morne also helped me a lot. He gave some small tips which made my bowling better,” he said.
Dube played a respectable hand with the bat, scoring 22 off 18 after being moved up the order to the No. 3 spot.
“In nets I practised a lot on how to deal with short balls because the bounce is more here as compared to India. It’s my first tour but I try to settle down as soon as possible.
“Definitely that was an important phase because at that time the scoring got slow and I knew (Adam) is going to bowl. I never took chances against fast bowlers because they were bowling in the direction of side boundaries.
“The plan was to rotate strike against fast bowlers and attack the spinners when they come,” Dube said.
