"No One Is Talking About Him": Aakash Chopra Slams Agarkar, Gambhir for Overlooking T20 World Cup Star

Shivam Dube was in the limelight last year for his strong performances for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He made it to the T20 World Cup squad after a good show and then played well in the tournament to help the team win the trophy. However, he has been absent from recent matches, which led former cricketer Aakash Chopra to ask Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir why he has been missing.

Dube was injured and missed the Bangladesh series, but is back and playing domestic cricket. He has played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Nonetheless, his name has not been mentioned for the upcoming IND vs ENG T20I series, a fact that has left Chopra wondering about the head coach and chief selector.

Aakash Chopra was critical of Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar for not picking Shivam Dube. He reminded them of the important innings Dube scored in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa to help India win the trophy. Chopra also expressed his concern about Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rajat Patidar, both of whom have not been doing well of late and find it difficult to get into the team.

“What happened to Shivam Dube? I wanted to talk about Ruturaj (Gaikwad) as well but he is not able to make his place. Rajat Patidar is also there. Obviously, there is a lot of batting. However, now I am going to focus a little bit on Shivam Dube. He was a member of the T20 World Cup-winning team,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“When you win, everyone should get the credit. He even played decently in the final. Before that, there were definitely some questions about whether he wasn’t fielding or batting well. However, then he played well and became the T20 World Cup champion,” Chopra added.

Aakash Chopra Criticizes BCCI's Shift in Focus Towards New Faces

Aakash Chopra points out that BCCI selectors appear to have changed their approach. He claimed that Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar forgot about Shivam Dube and instead focused on up-and-coming Nitish Kumar Reddy and veteran Hardik Pandya. Chopra contended that Dube should have been given more chance to establish himself in the team considering he was part of India's World Cup winning campaign.

“After that, he remained injured a little, didn’t get too many opportunities either, and is now out of the team. No one is talking about him as well. Riyan Parag is not being talked about because he is injured but no one is asking where Dube went. He suddenly disappeared from the horizon,” Chopra added.

“If he was good enough to be a part of the World Cup squad, I am sure he would be worthy of playing for another one or two years. He has remained out because of injury, but there was a theory earlier that whoever goes out due to injury, will come back in first, and whoever replaced him would have to sit out no matter what he might have done,” Chopra concluded.