Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif criticised captain Shreyas Iyer’s decision to hand the final over to all-rounder Shivam Dube in the first T20I against Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The final over yielded 21 runs as the Ibrahim Zadran-led side was able to cross the 150-run mark after being put in to bat first.
All of India’s frontline bowlers completed their spells by the 19th over, leaving Shreyas Iyer with the tricky task of choosing someone to finish the innings. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhishek Sharma had bowled an over each, but the captain brought Shivam Dube into the attack instead.
The medium pacer conceded two fours and two sixes, extending his poor run with the ball. Since the start of the England T20Is, he has bowled 9.4 overs where he has conceded 113 runs at an economy rate of 12.02, with four wickets in return.
Shivam Dube had also famously bowled the final over of the T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final against England at the Wankhede Stadium, conceding 22 runs. He also bowled the penultimate over under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy in the fifth T20I against England, where he also conceded 22 runs.
Mohammad Kaif opined that such bowlers cannot be given such a massive responsibility and should instead be used in the middle overs.
“There is a time and place when these part-timers are used. If you want to bring them, bring them earlier, like close to the 10-over mark, when five wickets are already down, and Omarzai and Nabi were new at the crease. You should bring part-timers there. So, you have to decide who to use where. You have played part-timers, not proper all-rounders,” Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
“These bowlers don’t even bowl 3 overs for their IPL franchises. When have we seen Dube bowl in the IPL? He doesn’t bowl. So, I think giving him the 20th over is a big mistake. The last over is usually bowled by Bumrah or Arshdeep Singh. Here, the one facing the last over was Omarzai, who was already set after scoring his fifty. You are using Dube against him, so I think there must have been some mistake in the calculations. This was not a match where seven bowlers needed to be used. Five bowlers were enough,” he continued.
Since the introduction of the impact player rule in the IPL, Shivam Dube’s bowling load has decreased. He bowled a combined 14 overs in the 2020 and 2021 editions, but did not bowl a single over in IPL 2023, when the rule was introduced.
Over the last three seasons, he has bowled only eight overs, conceding 111 runs at an economy of 13.87 and delivering two wickets.
“They should have been bowled out for 100” – Mohit Sharma on Team India’s bowling performance in AFG vs IND 2026 1st T20I
Former India pacer Mohit Sharma remarked that the team should have bowled out Afghanistan for a total around the 100-run mark after reducing them to 43-5 after seven overs. Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai put on 83 runs off 56 deliveries for the sixth wicket to help Afghanistan recover and post a respectable total.
“They should have been bowled out for 100, but we also have to consider that the other team has also come to play, and they batted well. The five-bowler plan is a double-edged sword, because will you bring the part-timer at that phase or try to attack? You never know, there are two senior players, and they can stitch a partnership. I think you should at least have five proper bowlers in the playing XI,” Mohit Sharma stated.
Team India have bowling options like Washington Sundar, Yash Thakur, and Ravi Bishnoi on the bench that can be considered for the remainder of the series. The second T20I is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, September 15 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Edited by Gokul Nair