Vijay Shankar "Not Thinking" About Team India Future

For a player like Vijay Shankar, the Indian Premier League (IPL), will be a key tournament to make a return to the national team. He was picked up in the World Cup 2019 squad as a ‘three dimensional player’ but his run in the marquee tournament ended prematurely due to a toe-injury.

However, Shankar had played for India A after that, but his all-round performance was not convincing enough. He managed to get only a single half-century in the series against New Zealand A and went wicketless in a few matches.

I generally don’t think about such things: Vijay Shankar

Shankar, in an interview to Khel Now, revealed that he does not thinks about getting a India call-up. Even his India A call-up was a last moment thing, as he replaced the injured Hardik Pandya in the side, while preparing for Ranji trophy.

“I generally don’t think about such things because even on that New Zealand A tour, I was picked in the last moment (as a replacement to Hardik Pandya). I was preparing for the Ranji Trophy game for Tamil Nadu but I got a call at the eleventh hour to join the A team for NZ tour. I am someone who generally doesn’t think much about such things” Vijay was quoted as saying by Khel Now.

“It has to happen when it will happen, I just need to put in the right effort. I need to keep working hard on all aspects of my game. I cannot sit and crib and get disappointed on all such things. This is just a part of our lives. We need to keep pushing ourselves, we need to keep performing whenever we go on the ground. This is mandatory and I feel, I should just focus a lot on that rather than thinking about why I am not selected”, he added.

Shankar has played 12 ODIs, nine T20Is for India. He, however, failed to cement his spot due to inconsistency. His batting average of over 44 in first-class cricket also did not replicate while playing for the national team.