Not long ago, Shivam Dube carried an unwanted reputation of being someone who struggled against high pace and hard lengths into the body. It didn't come without merit, because muscle memory would either have him hop leg side of the ball or try and duck.
When it got to a point where Dube began doubting himself, it forced a reinvention by going back to the basics. With coaches chucking length balls into the pitch from 18 yards out on bouncy red-soil decks to get him reacting a split-second faster.
However, the payoff first became evident elsewhere: in his spin game. Which first took shape in 2023 before turning into elite spin-hitting in 2024, and that eventually fuelled his comeback to the national side. For Dube, the unshackling of one aspect to his game had a knock-on effect elsewhere too. And what we see is merely the turnaround after some hard self-introspection.
"When you play in those situations, you learn," Dube said when asked of his improvements at the press conference after India's win over Netherlands in the T20 World Cup on Wednesday. "I know, yes, this bowler can come to me on this ball, or a fast bowler can bowl short or slower balls - I've worked on those things. And now I'm getting better. Game awareness is important and it has gotten better from my side.
"When I [first] came to CSK [Chennai Super Kings], there was something I was struggling with. It was important to come back strong, because I know I can dominate. I worked really hard on the short ball. I knew it's not going to be easy [to make the changes], but got to give it extra time and play extra balls. That's what I did."
Yet, for all that, against Netherlands in Ahmedabad, Dube could have been out first ball to a slower bouncer. He went half-heartedly with a short-arm-jab, only for the ball to balloon off his gloves. Fortunately for him, the ball landed short of wicketkeeper Scott Edwards despite a lunge.
It was a rare moment of indiscretion from Dube on a night where he was authoritative for large parts, the injector of momentum to an innings that was largely a tale of two halves.
There was skid with the new ball, occasional low bounce later on, with the black-soil deck also making some balls hold up a little more than others. This had him struggling early on against Aryan Dutt's offspin, and even earned him a reprieve on umpire's call. Suryakumar Yadav went up to him three times between deliveries, seemingly to calm him down. Dube was on 6 off 11.
"It was a little tough on the wicket, but this is the situation I love to bat and I was enjoying it although I was in pressure for some time," Dube said. "The offspinner [Colin Ackermann] bowled really well to me and four dot balls, a good over from my side, but I knew that I'm going to cover up later. [Some balls] were skidding as well as keeping low. One of the balls spun as well. So, for me, it was like, yes, I can hit him, but at that time the situation demands something else. So, I have to play at that time."
That belief helped convert a middling start to a savage finish; Dube hitting 66 off 31 with more than a shade of his supreme abilities against spin showing up when he injected momentum to an innings that had seemingly stalled. The time Dube decided to break free was also when India needed momentum at 89 for 3 in 13 overs. And a 19-run over off Ackermann, where he pounded two sixes into the leg side, changed the course of the innings, and the match.
It's this facet - of being able to launch himself without suggesting he would be changing gears - that makes Dube such a threat against spin. There are no switch-hits, no premeditated paddles. Just brute clarity of method. A full swing, long levers unfurling and meeting the ball with devastating certainty. He hits through the line with minimal fuss, and when bowlers err even fractionally in length, he drags them into his arc by turning good balls into hittable ones, for slog-sweeps struck with violent authority.
If the Ackermann over was an exhibition of his spin game, there were more than just hints of his improved game against pace too, at the back end of the innings. As Logan van Beek found out, when he tried to bounce Dube, only to be pummelled ferociously. When that didn't work, van Beek dug one into the surface, only for Dube to hold his shape and swing him over long-on.
Dube is no longer rooted to the crease; there's belief he can muscle anything short through midwicket. There is shape, range and butter-smooth mechanics that gives him the power. The slash over point, the controlled pull behind square, the pick-up flick over fine leg, the ability to stay leg side of the ball and access off-side angles - he has opened up the field, and in doing so, unclenched himself against fast bowling.
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The numbers tell their own story. Until the 2024 T20 World Cup, Dube's strike rate against pace in T20Is hovered at 134, hardly menacing. Since then, it has vaulted to 172. The volume of runs hasn't changed dramatically. The velocity has. And it's come on the back of an awareness of the need to improve, and the work he has put in.
"I know all the bowlers, they're going to [try and] block me as well," Dube said. "They'll not bowl me yorkers or length balls. They're going to come short. They're going to bowl me slower balls. So I prepared myself, so I was waiting for that. When I came today, it was not that I can take the strike rate high [immediately], but at some time there was, there was something I thought that this is the time I can go now. I knew today was my day."
The acceleration had been quite sensational. From 6 off 11 to 50 off 25 - his first at a T20 World Cup. A chuckle came later when he was informed of the stat. He said he hadn't paid much heed to when he brought up a half-century, because he was seemingly high on adrenaline in the middle.
"It's about who has the day," Dube said, striking a philosophical tone. "I think in our team all of us are match-winners, anyone can hit big sixes on any day and I felt today is the day, so I need to be a little smart, push myself, stay till the end, but I also need to regain my strength as well. That's what I did. That's why I'm a power hitter."