England all-rounder Moeen Ali reckons Shivam Dube should not be bowling in T20 cricket after India suffered a 0-4 series loss. Dube bowled a solitary over in the last game of the series against England and picked two wickets but conceded 22 runs.
The all-rounder was given the 19th over by Shreyas Iyer but he could not keep England batters at bay. Dube picked two wickets in five matches of the series at an average of 23.50. But he conceded his runs at a high economy rate of 15.67 in three overs he bowled in the series.
“For me personally, in my opinion, Shivam Dube should not be bowling in T20 cricket. I’ve never thought he should be bowling. Maybe if it is a tired wicket or like a slow spinner, those type of wickets it is okay. If he is bowling in a T20 game, you must be doing really well. They went to him in the 19th over, they just scrambled. I don’t think the decision was a good one,” Moeen Ali said on the ‘Beard Before Wicket’ podcast.
Ali said Shreyas Iyer didn’t get the support from other batters in the series. Barring Shreyas Iyer, who scored 218 runs, none of the other Indian batters could even score more than 150 runs in the five-match series against England.
“I feel a bit for Shreyas Iyer because he has played well. He’s batted really well, which is crucial for him as captain of the Indian side, especially after what happened with Surya. I felt like, for the first time, he was really frustrated with the bowlers. You could see that he lost his cool a little bit, and that’s not him. I feel for him. I don’t think they are a good bowling attack,” he expressed.
Ali reckons India should have tried death bowling a bit earlier when Jos Buttler and Harry Brook were going all guns blazing in the final game. While Buttler smashed 131, Brook scored an unbeaten 95.
“I think India could have started death bowling a bit more early. Just bowl everything away. Sometimes you have to. Because they (Brook and Buttler) are such good players. Tough questions to be asked,” he said.
India and England will next take on each other in a three-match ODI series, starting Tuesday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
