‘He was four when I understood his knack for big hitting’: Rajesh Dube on son Shivam

A wrestler in his youth, Rajesh throws it to the old days of him sitting down with a desi jugaad rather than the modern day quintessential gym sessions for moulding his son, Shivam into the power hitter he’s become today. “After practice, I’d massage him for an hour and a half with the mustard oil from our village. I did so for 20-21 years.”

Many of those who have seen Shivam play for Chennai Super Kings this Indian Premier League season, hope that he gets recalled to the Indian team again. Between November 2019 to February 2020, he played 14 games in India blues and Dube Sr wishes to relive those heady days again. “It can happen,” he admits before pausing. There’s a lump in his throat right before he says, “Bas India ke liye khele, yehi meri ek iccha hai (My only wish is to see him play for India).”

Over a 1000 sixes have been hit in IPL 2023 – more than any other editions of the league – and no Indian player has sent the ball flying over the ropes more than Shivam. 33 in 12 innings. 385 runs scored at a strike rate of about 160. The left-handed batter has been a force of reckoning during the middle and death overs, taking little time before upping the ante with his skyscraping hits.

If one siffs through Shivam’s numbers or binge his batting highlights across the last five IPL seasons, the reason for his rise jumps at you. CSK is the reason why the world knows him as a prolific six-hitter. “Dhoni and Fleming have helped him a lot,” Dube Sr. concedes.

CSK batting coach Michael Hussey would add on the same lines ahead of the franchise’s final league game in Delhi last week. “They’ve given him a lot of backing. A lot of clarity in his role. It can be a fickle role, he can move up and down the order depending on the situation in the game, but they’ve made it very clear to him how they would like him to play.”

Chennai: Chennai Super Kings batter Shivam Dube plays a shot during the IPL 2023 cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)(PTI05_10_2023_000303A)

Neither Bangalore (2019) nor Rajasthan (2020, 2021) had offered Shivam as long a run in the playing eleven as he’s gotten with the four-time IPL winners. ‘Belief’ is the word head coach Stephen Fleming used when asked of the secret sauce behind the successful resuscitation of Shivam’s short format career. This, after the tall southpaw sailed three sixes almost instantaneously in a short cameo against Delhi Capitals that eventually helped Chennai to a top-two spot on the points table. “We find that more confidence and belief you put in a player, it hides a few weaknesses,” the Kiwi said.

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He’d further reveal that while the management were trying to get hold of some hint, evidence that Shivam was ‘going to be the guy for them’ this year, his 27-ball-52 against RCB ‘did that’ and was the game-changer. Beyond the metrics of runs and strike rate, it was an innings where Shivam would stand tall against the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Wayne Parnell banging it short – a prominent chink in his armour over the years.

In the opening game of the season Alzarri Joseph and Mohammed Shami had tested him with a barrage of bouncers. Though Shivam had gotten rid of a Shami short one by pulling it into the stands, the persistence from the bowler to go for the same length resulted in him losing the battle. Chepauk’s spin-friendly conditions means Shivam doesn’t need to face the sharp bounce on most days.

His former Rajasthan teammate Robin Uthappa would be confused when David Warner would throw the ball to Lalit Yadav against Shivam on Saturday. “He waits for the spinner to get going,” Uthappa would suggest on air. It was very much evident with the southpaw’s mauling off a length ball outside off for a straight six down the ground. Cleanly struck with those long levers coming into play. It’s almost as if he makes up for his vulnerabilities to deliver stand still against short pitched quick deliveries by exponentially maximising on his reach to strike against the slower bowlers.

“Yes, he has an issue with fast bowlers, but when it comes to the spinners, he’s a very clean hitter and he’s a tall guy. So, he has a different reach compared to some of the other batters. So, the spinners have to adjust their length according to him,” captain MS Dhoni would elucidate earlier in the tournament.

A constant for the big hitters in the shortest format is chiseling their arsenal. The high back lift has been a fan favorite talking point of Shivam’s batting from his early days in IPL and international cricket. One that sparked comparisons with Yuvraj Singh. “It was too high,” his father tells. “He’d spent hours and hours in the lead up to the season to tone it down, resulting in the much better outputs the following year.”

A retro montage plays. There were days when Rajesh was termed a madman by those around him as he pictured his son playing in the upper echelons of world cricket. He would install a turf wicket in the home backyard and deliver hundreds of throwdowns to Shivam every day, taking up the mantle of his first coach. He was crystal clear, Shivam was meant to play top-tier cricket. The prime source of the family income, Rajesh’s factory, would shut down owing to financial reasons, bringing a five-year halt to his Shivam’s cricket. He’d weigh almost a 110 kgs by the time the family’s financial health was restored. None of it would shatter Rajesh’s crystal clarity, his son was meant to play top-tier cricket.

“Bahot kathinaiyan aayi,” he says. “He wasn’t selected in U-16, U-19, but I had faith that something good will come by his way,” adds Dube Sr. on the eve of the Chennai-Gujarat Qualifier 1.