Vijay Shankar disappointed after poor show in Nidahas trophy final

Vijay Shankar is one of the best allrounders going around in the domestic circuit. He was rewarded for his consistent performance for Tamil Nadu in the past few years. With the absence of big names like Kohli, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar and Hardik Pandya, Shankar knew that a national call-up was not far away. The Nidahas trophy was his best chance to make a mark in international cricket and establish his name as an allrounder.

Vijay Shankar is a batting allrounder. He is someone who can chip in a couple of good overs in the middle of the innings. But in the Nidahas Trophy Shankar had a bigger role with Rohit Sharma asking him to complete his quota of four overs in almost every game. Shankar had a good time on the field until the 18th over in the final match against Bangladesh. The 27-year-old Tamil Nadu cricketer had earned a man of the match award for his bowling effort in one of the league matches and came up with some special efforts on the field.

The all-rounder did not get a chance to bat in the tournament until the finals because the top order batsmen had done most of the work in the game. When he got a chance to bat in the finals, he flunked the ‘pressure test.’ with the required rate over 10 an over, Shankar, who scored a 19-ball 17, failed to connect four deliveries on the trot off Mustafizur Rahman in the 18th over and missed one in the final over as well.

Still disappointed about the five misses: Shankar

“I’m still disappointed about the five misses, disappointed that I couldn’t finish it in those last two balls having struck a crucial four in the third ball of the last over. At that level, you rarely get such a chance in your first knock. If I had hit a six, things would have been different. I was more disappointed with the fact that I had prepared hard for such a situation all along but couldn’t deliver,” Shankar told TOI on Tuesday.

Shankar had seen Mustafizur closely as they were a part of the SunRisers franchise in the IPL. “It’s a different thing to see Mustafizur in nets and face him in the match. On another day, I wouldn’t have missed those balls in such a situation. I wouldn’t attribute it to pressure factor but I think maybe it wasn’t my day.” Shankar added.

However, it was Shankar’s debut series and his first chance to bat. His teammates consoled him and ensured that he did not feel out of place. Even as his statemate Dinesh Karthik turned out to be a savior for India, Twitterati couldn’t refrain themselves from trolling Shankar. The affable cricketer said he understood the emotions of fans.