Madhya Pradesh’s Dubey, an old-school batsman with compact method and a peaceful head

In 28 first-class innings since his debut in 2018-19, 23-year-old Yash Dubey had by no means opened till halfway into this Ranji Trophy season. Right earlier than he was promoted to open by coach Chandrakant Pandit in a vital sport in opposition to Kerala, Dubey had, actually, stroked an unbeaten 85 off 92 balls in opposition to Meghalaya down at No 7.

But Pandit noticed one thing in his compact method and calm temperament, and Dubey delivered immediately, scoring an enormous 289 off 591 balls in opposition to Kerala and forming a third-wicket partnership of 277 with Rajat Patidar, who made 142. He couldn’t do a lot within the quarters and semis however has squeezed Mumbai nearly out of the ultimate with 133 off 336 deliveries, spending 111.5 overs within the center after fielding for 127.4 overs.

Despite the Mumbai fielders chirping always, Dubey hardly performed a false stroke in his knock, retaining his focus all through and making Mumbai earn his wicket. “He has always had that patience, and that is his strength. He had scored heavily in Under-19 cricket too. The ability was evident even then, which is why we had promoted him to the senior team then,” says Devendra Bundela, the previous MP captain.

That 1⃣0⃣0⃣ Feeling! 👏 👏

What a superb 💯 this has been by Yash Dubey within the @Paytm #RanjiTrophy #Final! 👍 👍 #MPvMUM

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— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) June 24, 2022

“We gave him some confidence early on that you have the ability and you will do well in the Ranji Trophy. He has the ability to bat at any position. And someone who really wants to play will play at any position.”

Dubey is a uncommon younger batsman who really desires to bat lengthy, Bundela feels. “He thinks in the old-school fashion. He really desires to be successful in four-day cricket. First and foremost, it is very important that you feel that way. He is the sort of batsman who you will have to get out, he will not throw away his wicket. Chandu bhai has guided him well. And I have also been talking to him before every match from his U-19 days.”

He was extremely rated in state cricket circles, however Dubey had just one first-class hundred going into the season, earlier than the promotion to open labored wonders. “See that is the beauty of Chandu bhai’s thinking,” says former MP coach Mukesh Sahni, whose son Parth made his first-class debut within the Ranji closing.

“He has obviously seen something in Dubey’s temperament that convinced him he had it in him to open the innings. Dubey learnt his cricket in Bhopal but moved to play for the neighbouring Hoshangabad division as he was not getting enough chances for Bhopal division. He has been making runs at every level since then with that compact technique.”

Yash Dubey & Shubham Sharma’s strong tons and Rajat Patidar unbeaten 67 on Day 3 of the @Paytm #RanjiTrophy #Final introduced Madhya Pradesh inside touching distance of Mumbai’s first-innings complete. 👏 👏 #MPvMUM

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— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) June 24, 2022

Dubey’s companion throughout the marathon second-wicket partnership of 222 in opposition to Mumbai was former MP captain Shubham Sharma, who’s within the type of his life. The 28-year outdated made his debut again in 2013, however has scored 4 of his seven first-class centuries this season. Hailing from Indore, Shubham performs for the Indore Sports Club on the ITI Maidan within the metropolis, the place his mom is a faculty trainer.

“The atmosphere is very upbeat today at our club. Everyone is so proud of what Shubham has done. It is a massive achievement for him and our club,” says the membership proprietor Raju Chouhan. “(Former MP cricketer) Rishi Yengde had brought him to me when he was only 14. So he has been playing for the club from a very young age.”

Ahead of the ultimate, Chouhan mentioned that he had requested Shubham to deal with it as simply one other sport and never be overawed by the event. “I just told him to try and not take the pressure that this is a final, and keep doing what he had been doing in match after match this season,” Chouhan mentioned. “It is just that this match has been designated a final, but they have already beaten several big teams this season, such as Gujarat, Punjab and Bengal. If all goes well over the next two days, it will be recorded in history that Madhya Pradesh won the Ranji Trophy because of these centuries from Shubham and Yash.”