While Rohit wouldn't be drawn into discussing whether Virat Kohli could be his opening partner instead of Yashasvi Jaiswal, he did emphasise the need for more power in the middle order, which led to the selection of Shivam Dube:
"The one thing we really looked at was middle-overs hitting. The top-order hitting has been alright and hasn't been bad, but there are options there as well. In the middle overs, we wanted someone to come and play that role where he can play freely without worrying about who is bowling and who is not. We picked Shivam Dube based on the IPL and a few games before the IPL as well."
Dube was in explosive form for Chennai Super Kings in the 2024 IPL, scoring 350 runs at a strike rate of 171.56, and is third in the six-wicket hits charts for the season. He was also the highest run-scorer in the T20I series against Afghanistan in January, scoring 124 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 158.97. Rohit also expects Dube to contribute with the ball when required, although he has bowled just one over in his first ten IPL 2024 matches.