Vijay Shankar happy to be part of India A squad for South Africa tour

Earlier today, the India A squad for South Africa tour was announced, and there were many happy inclusions. Senior players like Karun Nair and Manish Pandey were named skippers of India A’s unofficial Test and one-day teams respectively. India A will tour South Africa to play a one-day tri-series involving Australia A and South Africa A after which they will play two four-day matches against the hosts. The first match of the tour will be played between India A and Australia A in Groenkloof on July 26.

The squad for the ODIs includes these players – Mandeep Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey (captain), Deepak Hooda, Karun Nair, Krunal Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Vijay Shankar, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jayant Yadav, Basil Thampi, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Siddarth Kaul. However, the happiest of them all would be Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar, who led his state to Vijay Hazare Trophy victory earlier this year.

Vijay is the only player from Tamil Nadu to feature in the one-day side. Abhinav Mukund, another man from the state also managed a berth, but in the longer games. Why Vijay would be particularly happy is because he was chosen for India A tour to Australia last year but could not go due to an injury.

“Last year too, I was selected for India A’s tour to Australia, but I couldn’t make it due to an injury. So, this time, I wouldn’t think too much about it. That was quite painful. To play for India is a dream, and that tour (in Australia) would have taken me a step closer. So, this time, I would only take it easy,” Shankar was quoted as saying by sportsstarlive.

A good opportunity

The allrounder will leave no stone unturned to cement his place in the squad with this tournament. He had a good domestic season and also a decent outing with his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017.

“Playing in South Africa will be a good opportunity, and I would only focus on playing my game. If I can perform as per my ability, the rest will follow its own course,” he said.