Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan slammed Chennai Super Kings’ think tank for sending Shivam Dube at number seven against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday after they suffered a 89-run loss. Khan said the number seven position is too low a number for Dube.
Dube smashed 47 runs off just 17 balls with the help of four fours and as many sixes as he was CSK’s best batter against GT. However, Dube had a disappointing season for the franchise, scoring 270 runs in 12 innings at an average of 38.57 and a strike rate of 158.82.
Zaheer Khan said on Cricbuzz, “Maybe having Shivam Dube bat up the order is something they can think of. You know seven is too low a number for him.”
The former LSG bowling coach added that CSK will need to strengthen their bowling in the next season after they were knocked out of the tournament.
He said, “They need to strengthen their bowling for sure and Jadeja’s replacement is something they’re searching for, who is going to make that consistent impact with the ball and the bat. Akeal Hosein showed some signs of it, so how they develop is something which CSK will be closely monitoring. But on the whole, it has been a decent season for them.”
Khan added that CSK will be delighted with the fight they showed despite injury woes. Ayush Mhatre, Khaleel Ahmed, and Jamie Overton were ruled out of the tournament because of respective injuries.
“They put up a fight right throughout the season and that’s what they’ll be happy with. A few injuries have not helped them. Mhatre also got injured with Ruturaj’s form, we’ve been talking about but they’ve not been able to put performances together consistently. I think they also somewhere knew that if they qualify for the playoffs it will be a miraculous kind of effort.”
On the other hand, former Indian spinner Murali Kartik questioned CSK for not giving enough game time to Gurjapneet Singh.
He said in the same discussion, “I think I’ve been very impressed with the way he’s bowled. And the thing is that he’s not played enough. He bowls well and then next, where is Gurjanpreet Singh?”
Singh returned with economical figures of 0-31 in his four overs against GT.
