Vijay Shankar Regrets at Missing the Opportunity to Become the National Hero

Team India all-rounder Vijay Shankar had a horrific day in the final of the Nidahas Trophy against Bangladesh, He wants to move from his forgettable knock of 17 of 19 deliveries. Chasing a competitive 167 to win, India suffered a couple of early setbacks.

However, they forged a recovery courtesy a half-century from skipper Rohit Sharma. However, the chase got quite tricky once Rohit departed. With Dinesh Karthik and a relatively inexperienced Vijay Shankar in the wings, the team management decided to send Shankar up the order.

Batting for the very first time in international cricket, Shankar struggled to get going and missed several deliveries. He managed to score a boundary in the 5^th delivery of the final over. He put the pressure back on Karthik as India required only 5 to win off the last delivery. The wicket-keeper batsman smashed a six over the extra cover region to destroy the hopes of Bangladesh.

Karthik played once in a lifetime knock as he smashed 22 runs in the penultimate over of Rubel Hossain. He started off with a huge six in the very delivery he faced and followed it up with a four and a six each. However, Vijay had out India under severe pressure with his slow dodgy batting.

“When everyone was rejoicing after the final, I was feeling very disheartened at how things panned out. It was an opportunity given to me to become a hero. I should have finished the match,” he said.

He added that garnering sympathy on social media didn’t help.

“My parents and close friends didn’t say anything as they knew what I was going through. But I get these text messages like ‘don’t worry about what’s being said on social media’, when I actually I want to move on. They perhaps think that’s the way to show sympathy but it may not work,” the all-rounder said.

“It was an off-day for me but I am finding it difficult to forget. I know I need to move on. I had a good tournament until that final day,” Shankar said.

He further added that these things would happen if someone is representing the country.

“I need to accept that these are things that can happen when you play for India. The same social media would have gone berserk had I won the match all by myself. It happened the opposite and I have to accept all the brickbats. That’s also a part of growing up,” Shankar replied calmly.

“Had I got out for a second or a third ball duck, no one would have bothered about my performance. But then would I have liked that to happen? Certainly not. I would rather accept this situation. You just can’t think of safe options always. You have to accept challenges head on,” Shankar said.

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