Kolkata: There is a certain patience required to be Harsh Dubey. Not the passive kind, the sort that comes from waiting for an opportunity to arrive.
His is of course a more active routine-bowl, bat, improve, repeat. Wherever he has played, Dubey has accumulated evidence that he belongs at the next level. And so as India begin another season with Manav Suthar firmly establishing himself behind Ravindra Jadeja in the pecking order for the left-arm spin allrounder slot, Dubey is performing like he has been doing for years.
The latest reminder came almost immediately. In the Duleep Trophy semi-final, playing for Central Zone against East Zone, where Dubey returned figures of 4 for 53 to make the final innings interesting, ending up with eight wickets in the match. No spinner could have asked for a better start to a domestic season. But it’s also true Dubey has a knack for wickets.
Within three years of his first-class debut, he had taken 69 wickets in a Ranji Trophy season-a record-while also scoring 469 runs for Vidarbha. The numbers explain part of his appeal, but perhaps not the most important part. Dubey’s defining quality has been his ability to remain relevant, season after season, regardless of the level or role demanded of him. No wonder Ajit Agarkar, India’s chief selector, has described him as an “all-format next generation spin bowling allrounder”.
Dubey likes to bat, and even sees himself as an all-rounder because he has claimed “I have always played as one”. But he also gets the ball to turn, and more. There is the orthodox left-arm spin, making the ball turn away viciously from the right hander, like the one that got rid of Kumar Kushagra with a leading edge. Often has the arm ball troubled both left and right-handed batters. And if it’s quicker, as Anukul Roy realised on Tuesday, Dubey’s bowling becomes increasingly difficult to read.
The wide repertoire captures Dubey’s willingness to hone the skills that can reward him with wickets. He idolises Jadeja, but interestingly it was R Ashwin who had offered him the opportunity to play league cricket for Mylapore Recreation Club in 2022.
Under the watch of Ashwin, Dubey started working on the smaller details-using the crease more effectively, manipulating pace without compromising his seam position and releasing the arm ball with more deception. Ashwin’s assessment? “Great attitude and never backs down from a fight. Has a great future,” he had written on X during the 2026 IPL.
Usman Ghani, one of the key figures behind Vidarbha’s domestic resurgence, says that this willingness to absorb information rather than become attached to a single method makes Dubey so threatening in every condition. “If he’s going to the IPL, he’s going to a different coach. If he plays for India, he goes to a different coach. I’m already his childhood coach, I’m still with him,” Ghani told HT over the phone. “Good things always should be taken wherever they come from. And he is doing exactly that.”
By 2025, Dubey was captaining Vidarbha to their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title. Later that year came his IPL break. Sunrisers Hyderabad called him up as a replacement for R Smaran when their campaign was effectively nearing its end. There was little time to make an impression, but in their final league game against Kolkata Knight Riders, Dubey took 3 for 34 in a winning cause. Three games were enough for Sunrisers to see something worth keeping, so he was retained ahead of IPL 2026, where his best figures were 3/12 against Delhi Capitals on a dry Hyderabad pitch.
“What’s important is his attitude,” said Ghani. “Performance is very important. But he is also working hard on his self-belief. Whenever he gets a chance, if you see, he tries to give his best. Whether playing for the country, for the zone, or for the state, he’s doing it. That’s a good sign.”
The trajectory has been remarkably steady-domestic excellence, leadership, an IPL opportunity, A tours, an ODI debut (against Afghanistan earlier this year) and, now, another season beginning with a performance that makes it difficult to ignore him. For Ghani, however, the development matters only if it is accompanied by the right preparation. Dubey, he says, understands the need to balance cricket with personal time, to prepare mentally for the different demands that come with the IPL, domestic cricket and international tours. Most importantly, he remains focused on playing for India.
There is an obvious complication here. India have already begun looking at the next generation of spin options in Tests, with Suthar getting his chance and responding impressively in Sri Lanka. Dubey therefore finds himself waiting behind a player who is currently giving the selectors very little reason to look elsewhere. That can be frustrating, but it’s also where Dubey’s consistency becomes relevant. “Patience is very important,” Ghani said. “Whatever is in your hand, you have to do. You have to leave it to the selectors.
International careers, however, are rarely linear, with opportunities often arriving unexpectedly. When that moment comes, India will want to know that the player stepping forward is ready. Dubey’s answer is already being written in wickets. The season has barely begun, and he has eight of them. A season break has made little difference to his preparation, or focus. This match haul, thus, was the latest entry in a remarkably long ledger of performances for Dubey.