Out of favour Indian all-rounder, Vijay Shankar recently recalled 2019 World Cup incident which happened on the eve of
match in Manchester. The day before the match between India and Pakistan, a Pakistan fan came to some Indian players in a coffee house and abused them, said Shankar on Bharat Army Podcast.
“A few of us from the Indian team had gone out for coffee one day before the game, when a Pakistan fan came up to us and he was literally abusing us. That was my first experience of an India-Pakistan game,” Shankar said.
It was Shankar’s first experience of an India-Pakistan rivalry. He was playing against Pakistan for the first time in a World Cup game.
“We just had to take it. He was abusing us and recording everything, so we couldn’t react. All we could do was sit and watch what he was doing,” he said.
The next day, Vijay exhibited a great performance with the ball, picking wicket on the first delivery of his first World Cup game. He picked 2 for 22 in 5.2 overs and scored 15-ball 15 with the bat.
As far his overall performance in the World Cup is concerned, Vijay Shankar didn’t quite live up to his captain’s expectations in the perennial tournament. Shankar failed miserably in the game against Afghanistan and West Indies and was severely trolled on the social media.
The Indian all-rounder has remained out of favour since World Cup debacle and has been striving hard on the domestic cricket to get back into contention.
He would look to exhibit a strong show in the upcoming IPL season and find a place in India’s limited over’s side.
Vijay Shankar has played 12 one-day internationals and 9 T20s in his international career so far, scoring 223 and 101 runs respectively.
