FILE PHOTO: Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup - India Nets - Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - June 15, 2019 India coach Ravi Shastri during nets Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Former India coach Ravi Shastri expects big-hitting Shivam Dube to set the T20 World Cup alight and says the 30-year-old batting all-rounder will be key to India's hopes of racking up big totals in the tournament next month.
Dube, who is also a handy medium pacer, has established himself as one of the most destructive middle-order batters in the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings player scoring 350 runs in 11 matches at a 170-plus strike rate this season.
Among the IPL's Indian batters, only Abhishek Sharma has hit more sixes than Dube's 26.
"Please watch out for (him), because he is explosive, he's devastating and he's a match-winner," Shastri told the International Cricket Council website.
"He hits sixes for fun, and when it comes to spin bowling, he can kill you."
Shastri said that while the left-handed batter is particularly effective against spinners he had nailed down his batting approach against pace.
"He's understood the way to play and I think he holds the key at that number five-six position because if you're in the doldrums, you want someone to change it in 20-25 balls, he's the player to go to," he added.
The strike rate of India's top order, which includes skipper Rohit Sharma and stalwart Virat Kohli, has been something of a concern and a fiery middle-order could be crucial to India's hopes of winning a second T20 World Cup title.
Shastri has high hopes for opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and said the presence of Dube in the middle order could help India post the big totals needed to win a major tournament.
"His strike rate, which will be close to 200 most of the time, will help India immensely in going forward, getting those 190s, 200s that are needed in big competitions, especially like the World Cup," he added.
India will also be encouraged by Suryakumar Yadav's form heading into the World Cup after his 51-ball hundred secured victory for the Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday.
Suryakumar, the top-ranked batter in T20 internationals, is playing his first tournament since recovering from an ankle injury and a sports hernia operation.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)
