Shubham Dubey came in as Rajasthan Royals chased 223 against Punjab Kings and finished unbeaten on 31 off 12 deliveries. The innings helped Rajasthan Royals return to winning ways and pushed them to 3rd in the points table after Punjab Kings took their first defeat of the season.
Dubey's late surge
Rajasthan Royals used Dubey as an impact player, and he joined an innings already driven by Yashasvi Jaiswal's 57 and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's 43 off 16 balls. Dubey's 31 not out turned the chase into a finished result, not a late collapse.
The innings added another short burst to a season in which Dubey has been used for a specific role. He is a left-handed middle-order batter who also bowls right-arm offbreaks, and Rajasthan paid ₹5.8 crore for the uncapped player after his domestic rise.
From Yavatmal to the IPL
Dubey was born on 27 August 1994 in Yavatmal, Maharashtra, and made his List A debut for Vidarbha in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021. In the 2023-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he scored 221 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 187.28, including 58 off 20 balls.
His route to the league was far from smooth. He has said he came from a modest middle-class family in Nagpur, that his father ran a paan stall before taking a private job, and that he first discovered cricket in ninth grade while bunking classes for tennis-ball matches with friends. He also often slept in crowded dormitories during his early struggling years, sometimes sharing space with as many as 10 others.
Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings
Dubey made his IPL debut in 2024, and Rajasthan Royals later released him ahead of the 2025 auction before bringing him back. Against Punjab Kings, the return paid off in the end, with his late 31 off 12 providing the closing push in a chase of 223.
The result left Rajasthan Royals in 3rd and ended Punjab Kings' unbeaten start. For Royals, the practical change is clear: Dubey has already shown he can be trusted in the closing overs when a chase needs pace, not patience.
