‘We just had to take it’- Vijay Shankar on how a Pakistan fan hurled abuses before India’s marquee clash in Manchester

Vijay Shankar, the Indian all-rounder, has put forth an incident when a Pakistan fan abused the Indian players ahead of the 2019 World Cup match at the Old Trafford in Manchester. The 29-year-old Shankar said that it was his first experience of the fierce rivalry between the Asian giants.

Shankar and a few other cricketers of the Indian team had an outing prior to the game in order to relax themselves. It was then that the Pakistan supported hurled expletives. Recalling the moments, the Tamil Nadu-born stated that all the players could do was watch, hoping for it to end soon.

He was abusing us and recording everything: Vijay Shankar

“Few of us players had gone out for coffee one day before the game, when a Pakistan fan came up to us and he was literally abusing us. So that was my first experience of an India-Pakistan game,” Shankar told on the Bharat Army Podcast.

“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 stated.

A day before the game, Shankar got to know about his participation. He didn’t get much of a chance to bat, managing 15 at a run-a-ball in the death overs. However, with the ball, he impressed one and all. He had his first opportunity when Bhuvneshwar Kumar went off the park due to injury.

In his very first delivery, he trapped opener Imam-ul-Haq in front and then went on to dismiss Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed as well. In the end, India won the rain-curtailed game by 89 runs (D/L Method).

Shankar said that before the game he was under pressure and he understands the need for some relaxation. “It’s very hard for me to sit in a room and do nothing. I want to go out for a coffee and all and I had Dinesh Karthik with me. So, the two of us would go out for coffee.

We used to have some fun, which is very important, I feel, because the pressure is very high. So, we just have to give some time to ourselves, ease out and chill,” Shankar added.