Shubham Dubey

Hailing from Nagpur, Shubham Dubey is an Indian domestic cricketer who plays for Vidarbha. He is a left-handed middle-order batter.

Shubham’s journey is one of a sheer struggle where a typical underdog overcomes all the changes in a steep hill climb.

Getting to play cricket came with its fair share of hardships for Shubham, who is the son of paan stall’s owner. His father, who is now unemployed, could barely make ends meet, forget about having the money to buy a cricket kit.

The late Sudeep Jaiswal, Shubham’s mentor, was the owner of Advocate XI, a club that supported many financially unstable cricketers. Shubham was one of them, and not only did Jaiswal relieve him from all the financial strains coming his way, but he also opened the doors for him to play in U-19, U-23, and ‘A’ Division teams.

The southpaw made his T20 debut for Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2021. Two years later, after finding his footing in SMAT 2023, he made his List-A debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023.

He was Vidarbha's second-highest run-scorer for the season, with 221 runs in seven innings at an average of 73.67 and a strike-rate of 187.29. He possessed great finishing skills and played several quality knocks, with his best coming against Bengal.

Shubham smashed the joint-fastest T20 fifty for Vidarbha in 18 balls pulling off the highest successful run-chase of 214 for his side in SMAT with his unbeaten 20-ball 58.

This awe-inspiring performance catapulted him to the top of the wish list for IPL franchises, leading to Rajasthan Royals investing a staggering INR 5.80 crore on him in the 2024 auction.

(As of March 2024)