“When I was selected for the Afghanistan series, Rohit [Sharma, captain] bye he told me i would do it [get a chance to] bowl and hit again,” said Dube in conversation bcci.tv in the formation of the Indian squad announcement. He said, ‘just show us what you can do.’ When the captain comes and tells you that we want to see you do this, you just say ‘I’m kidding’, so my thought was how can I do it and make the team win.
“When I entered the CSK setup, Mahi [MS Dhoni] bye again [Stephen] Fleming told me you had to hit. But they never said it must start from the first ball,” said Dube. “Even they know that doing that can be dangerous. It was in the back of my mind that if they have faith in me, why should I take unnecessary risks in my first 10 balls?
“That plan was, yes, I’m hitting [big] now, but how can i do it right? Mentally, I am prepared to see what my approach should be when the bowler bowls a particular ball. It took me a while to get used to this, but I’m set now. I watch the ball carefully, and as it hits the bat, I feel that it is over, it is over, it will go for six and it will go long. Special thanks to CSK. They raised me their way and it worked for me.”
“Yes, there is something like Yuvraj Singh,” said Dube. “It’s nice when people compare my batting to his. If I can do like him, it will be good. When I joined the Indian team, Ravi. [Shastri, then head coach] bye he told me he ‘hit sixes like Yuvraj Singh.’
“In view [Yuvraj] bat, I read that even if he didn’t hit the first seven and eight balls, he closed it towards the end. I learned that and prepared myself mentally. If people think I can do this [bat like him], maybe I really can. Why not? It’s important to use the right things at the right time.”
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