Tilak and Dube finally turn much-heralded promise to performance as they batted with maturity to give India the win.
The night Tilak and Dube went from promise to performance.
Shivam Dube has won the T20 World Cup. However, the excitement of that Suryakumar Yadav catch, the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja shortly after overshadowed the importance of his cameo—an undefeated 16-ball 28—in the final against South Africa in Barbados.
He was selected to perform a specific function, which was to destroy spin during the middle overs. At the Asia Cup, Dube needed to put on strong performances. But he had only scored 17 runs in his three innings before Sunday. He then faced his most difficult task to date when the club decided to use Rinku Singh as batting insurance due to Hardik Pandya’s quad injury, which required him to fill in as a frontline bowler.
Dube wouldn’t have realised his greatest contribution was still to come until he was set 147 to win. With a game-changing 33 from 22 balls, certainly on par with, if not better than, his Barbados cameo, he did his part.
Any scepticism regarding Tilak Varma’s capacity as a top-order batsman should have been dispelled by his double hundreds in South Africa last November. However, it appeared to be a little setback when his striking rates were questioned during the 2025 Indian Premier League and he was even retired out once.
With India’s top order struggling and the scoreboard showing 20 for 3 in Round Three versus Pakistan on Sunday—in a final, no less—that decisive blow, an undefeated 53-ball 69, enabled India overcome the sway and scream past the finish line.
In order to increase his speed between the conclusion of the IPL and the beginning of the Asia Cup, Dube had made fitness a top priority. Along with improving a number of aspects of his batting, he also worked on his variations. His specific goals were to become more effective against high-speed, short-pitched bowling and to improve against spin. It was basically a real reset.
When Dube left with the side needing 70 off 46, he had a task to complete. A cameo wouldn’t help much in this kind of situation, but a false shot could have disastrous consequences. He had to be the finisher and the consolidator.
Before everything clicked, Dube almost ran out Tilak after fumbling around early on (three off five balls). Haris Rauf broke the shackles by slapping the bowler through the covers, using his fast speed and width to flick a switch. Abruptly, the shoulders relaxed, and he vanished.
Tilak’s ability to accelerate also aided. Dube had at least his eye in, but getting 47 off 30 wasn’t going to be easy. And the 2023 star spin-hitter took control as soon as Abrar Ahmed bowled length into him. Dube unleashed his signature six-hitter, smashing one over deep midwicket with the spin.
Upon his comeback, Rauf clobbered another over deep midwicket to reduce the equation to 17 off 12 with to his renowned bat-swing and long levers, which helped make a lovely connection with a low full toss.
He gave India a strong hit whenever they needed one to relieve Tilak’s pressure. Dube was reclaiming the position for which he was chosen. However, he was upset when he was caught at long-off when India needed ten runs off six balls.
Dube was almost not the man for India that night, but his relief at seeing this chase through was as evident as Tilak’s happiness.
He didn’t want to check the replays on the large screen while the dust was flying in his face. Before he entered the crease, Tilak may have believed that his bat had momentarily hung in midair. He was unaware that a very small part of his blade was in the safety zone.
Perhaps it helped that Mohammad Haris broke the stumps a little later than expected. Tilak had another opportunity. At that time, he had been on a run-a-ball 37, but he needed to shift gears because the equation was down to 64 off 36.
That began in the next over when he retreated to slap Rauf past mid-off for four before throwing the ball over deep-backward square-leg with a casual pick-up flick. It was a shot that was all hands and Rauf’s pace. It was down to 47 off 30 after that 17-run over.
Dube started to feed off Tilak’s form at this point. But now that Dube was gone, Tilak was left to handle everything. Gautam Gambhir’s stern face turned to full-blown fire when he struck the second ball, a slower delivery on a length, off Rauf with a fierce draw far into the stands at backward square-leg. The coach began beating the desk in front of him violently.
For Dube, the evening was another reminder of what he still had to offer this squad. with the bat under pressure and the ball in the powerplay. It was the night that Tilak became the guy for the big event and ceased being the promising young man.