Harsh Dubey’s talent endorsed by Anil Kumble after his impressive bowling performance against KKR yesterday.
Kumble and Vettori see big potential in ‘clever’ Harsh Dubey’s talent.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) may have had the best selection of replacement players, but Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), another side that left the IPL 2025 early, may have acquired a future superstar. Anil Kumble, the most successful Indian Test bowler in history, Tom Moody, and SRH head coach Daniel Vettori have all expressed admiration for Harsh Dubey, who earlier this year broke the record for the most wickets in a Ranji Trophy season.
22-year-old left-arm spinner Dubey took 3 for 34 from his four overs in SRH’s final game of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday night after returning 1 for 44 and 1 for 20 in his opening two games, both of which came after the IPL restarted after the summer break.
“We’re very pleased with what he has done since he has come into the team – obviously a very clever bowler,” Vettori said at the press conference after the match. “[He] understands conditions well, understands how he needs to bowl, and can mix it up. I suppose we were desperate for that little bit of control, and he’s been able to do that in all three games he’s played.
“And the great thing for him is that between now and the next IPL, he’s going to play a lot of cricket, whether it’s for India A or his domestic team [Vidarbha]. He’s going to get a huge amount of opportunities, so we believe he can grow as a bowler and also as a batter, because the batting part of him was a big part of our decision-making too.”
Regarding India A, Dubey’s opportunity in England will come soon as the Indians play two first-class matches against England A starting in late May and a four-day match against the Test team starting on June 13 prior to the start of the England vs. India Test series on June 20.
“He’s giving it a tweak, that’s the start. And when you do that, you certainly get a bit of drift. And, more importantly, it goes off the surface that much quicker. And that’s something that we see in Harsh Dubey,” Anil Kumble said.