Nagpur: Shubham Dubey of Nagpur finally made his Indian Premier League debut after he was included in the Rajasthan Royals (RR) team against Mumbai Indians during their match at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
The debut turned out to be a good one for Dubey as Rajasthan Royals defeated multiple time champions Mumbai by six wickets to record their third straight win as they achieved the target of 126 in 15.3 overs. Dubey remained unbeaten on eight along with Riyan Parag who hit his second successive half century (54*) of the tournament.
Nagpur’s Dubey was earlier named in the Impact substitute list but could not get a chance to show his batting skills. Twice Shimron Hetmyer performed the role of ‘Impact Player’ against Delhi Capitals and Lucknow SuperGiants which Rajasthan won to collect four points from two games. But on Monday, Dubey was included as an ‘Impact Player’ replacing Yuzvendra Chahal in the 19th over. Chahal bowled extremely well taking three wickets for 11 runs.
Left-handed Dubey, with a base price of Rs 20 lakh, was picked by Rajasthan Royals for a whopping Rs 5.80 crore during a fierce bidding war against Delhi Capitals during the auction late last year.
Dubey walked-in in the 13th over after R Ashwin’s wicket with Rajasthan still needing 38 from 47 deliveries. He tapped the ball towards midwicket to score his first run in the cash-rich league. The next delivery, he played was a beautiful backfoot punch for a boundary off Mumbai Indians’ Akash Madhwal.
Known for his big hitting, Dubey played second fiddle to Parag who hammered Mumbai bowlers to finish the game in 15.3 overs. Dubey is among five Vidarbha players playing this season of the IPL with others being — Umesh Yadav, Jitesh Sharma, Darshan Nalkande and Atharva Taide.
