Anuj Rawat IPL 2021: Why is Shivam Dube not playing today’s IPL 2021 match vs SRH?

Shivam Dube not playing: Rajasthan Royals have made a couple of massive changes to their Playing XI for this match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

During the 28th match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson has won the toss and chose to field.

“We are going to have a bowl. After a few conversations with guys who have played here, we think it should be a consistent surface. We know that as a group we need to come together and build on the positive parts. It has been difficult, but we need to pull together now.

“This captaincy change is very sudden, so I just need to pick up and make the small adjustments which hopefully will reflect on the result. The goal for the last half of the campaign is to improve our performances,” Williamson told Star Sports at the toss.

Being asked about the changes made to their Playing XI, Williamson announced three of them as batsman Abdul Samad, all-rounder Mohammad Nabi and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar have replaced former captain David Warner, all-rounder Jagadeeshan Suchith and pacer Siddarth Kaul.

Why is Shivam Dube not playing vs SRH?

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson remained unperturbed about being asked to bat first in an afternoon match. Samson further laid emphasis on setting a “strong total” at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

“The last match we played here was a noon game as well and it’s good to set a strong total. You only look for a good start in the powerplay and build up from there. We just want to keep it simple and express ourselves, see the ball and react accordingly,” Samson told Star Sports at the toss.

As far as the changes for Rajasthan are concerned, Samson mentioned that they have handed a debut to batsman Anuj Rawat and included Kartik Tyagi for the first time this season. All-rounder Shivam Dube and pacer Jaydev Unadkat have moved out to accommodate Rawat and Tyagi in this match.

Rawat, 21, represents Delhi in domestic cricket and is playing his first IPL match at his home ground. In 2o T20s so far, Rawat’s 334 runs have come at an average and strike rate of 30.36 and 118.02 respectively. Tyagi, who had made his IPL debut last season, had picked nine wickets in 10 matches at an economy and strike rate of 9.61 and 25.44 respectively.

While Samson wasn’t asked about the reasons behind dropping Dube, one understands that the move has been done because of Dube’s mediocre returns this season. In six IPL 2021 matches, Dube’s 145 runs have come at an average and strike rate of 24.16 and 117.88 respectively. With the ball in hand, Dube has only bowled three wicket-less overs this season.