IPL 13: Need to be fit to match Kohli's speed, says Dube
Oct 10, 2020
Dubai [UAE], October 10 : With Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers both failing to get going against Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, it was up to Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli to turn on the heat and he did just that hitting an unbeaten 90 off just 52 balls.
The man who had the best seat in the house was Shivam Dube as he himself hit an unbeaten 22 off 14 balls to put on 76 off 34 balls as RCB finished on 169/4 from their 20 overs.
Dube said that more than anything, one needs to be very fit to match skipper Kohli's speed when he runs those quick singles and doubles towards the end of the innings.
"He was really batting well. We need to be fit (while running with Kohli) and he's very fast, you need to match him always," he smiled.
Asked about playing second fiddle to Kohli and giving him company after the big names failed to get going against the CSK bowlers, Dube said: "It was really nice batting with Virat bhai. We had a target of 150-160, we achieved more than that, so we are happy with that."
Dube said that Kohli asked him to express himself and play his natural game and not worry about anything. "He told me to go and charge at them, so my job was to do that. I tried my best. We decided to play according to the situations," he said.
Asked if the total will be good enough for the CSK batting line-up, Dube said that the pitch is playing slow and it could be tough hitting the boundaries. "The wicket is quite slow, it is quite difficult to play big shots," he said.
