Last Updated:
Ravichandran Ashwin requests Chennai Super Kings to make use of Shivam Dube as a sixth bowling option, highlighting his IPL potential ahead of the 2026 auction.
Ashwin suggests that CSK should utilise Shivam Dube more as a bowler (Picture credit: ICC)
Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has said that the Chennai Super Kings should actively use Shivam Dube as their sixth bowling option, backing his teammate to play a much bigger role within the franchise as a bowler and never be limited as a big-hitter.
On Thursday, within the second T20I against South Africa in Mullanpur, Dube was brought in to bowl after India had conceded 121 runs in 12 overs and had picked just two wickets.
Dube got here in to bowl the thirteenth over and conceded nine runs, with Dewald Brevis smacking him for a boundary. In his next over, i.e. South Africa’s fifteenth, he conceded a six from Brevis and gave away nine more runs.
“This guy has shown enough capabilities with the ball to prove that he could be a great sixth bowling option for CSK within the IPL,” Ashwin tweeted on Thursday evening.
This guy has shown enough capabilities with the ball to prove that he could be a great sixth bowing option for CSK within the IPL.His bowling hasn’t been utilised by them, but this season it could change and if it does, the probabilities on the auction increase many folds. pic.twitter.com/rvYhdRPy7W
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) December 11, 2025
Notably, Dube bowled just two overs in 14 games in IPL 2025, each of them against the Gujarat Titans of their final league game. They’ve made several bowlers play as their sixth bowling option, as per situations, but never Dube.
Dube has picked 68 wickets within the 185 T20Is he has played, at an economy of 8.84.
In T20Is, he has bagged 22 wickets in 47 matches, but has been expensive at 9.24.
Chennai Super Kings head into the IPL 2026 auction with one key objective: finding a top-tier overseas all-rounder to switch Sam Curran, who they traded to the Rajasthan Royals alongside Ravindra Jadeja in exchange for Sanju Samson.
With a powerful purse and an intact team, Chennai’s strategy centres on regaining middle-order firepower and reinforcing seam-bowling depth with one decisive signing.
Click here so as to add News18 as your selected news source on Google. December 11, 2025, 20:41 IST
Read More