After letting his bat do the talking,

Nilesh Deshpande

In the previous year's IPL auction, Vidarbha's young players Atharva Taide, pacers Yash Thakur and Darshan Nalkande hogged the limelight as they were picked up by Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans. This season when the IPL auction takes place in Dubai on December 19 , Vidarbha batter Shubham Dubey is expected to follow suit.

The main reason behind this is the fabulous performances of the left-handed batter in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Trophy (SMAT) and in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The 27-year-old batter has scored 221 runs in seven matches with a glorious strike rate of 187.28. Known for his stroke play, Dubey smashed a total of 18 sixes and ten boundaries. So far he has played 20 Twenty-20 matches for Vidarbha and has scored 485 runs with the strike rate of 145.20.

Talking to Lokmat Times on his chances in the cash-rich IPL auction Dubey said, “I have already delivered my best in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and have attended the trials of almost all the franchises including Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants".

Dubey said the trials were good and he tried his best to fulfill the criteria for the selection. "Now it is up to franchises to pick me or not. I am quite optimistic about my chances but let's see,” he said.

Last season, Dubey had missed the trials as he suffered an injury during Hazare Trophy. “Last season too couple of franchises including MI and CSK called me for the trials but I had to miss them due to an injury”, he said.

In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Dubey who plays for the local Eleven Star Club was involved in the highest run chase for Vidarbha against Bengal in the company of Karun Nair at Mohali. He smashed unbeaten 58 in just 20 balls hitting six sixes and four boundaries. In the process, he became the joint fastest T-20 half-century hitter (18 balls) for Vidarbha. In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, he played unbeaten 62-run knock against Maharashtra two days back at Jaipur in the winning cause.

He has also attended the trials of almost all the franchises and is now waiting for his turn after performing at the national-level. In fact, a couple of franchises have also shown keen interest in the batter who remained unbeaten on four occasions in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

It can be mentioned here that this season Punjab Kings have retained Vidarbha captain Atharva Taide and wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma. Similarly, Gujarat Titans have retained pacer Darshan Nalkande and Lucknow Supergiants, Yash Thakur.