By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 6
CRICKET fans all over the country as well as pundits of the game might have selected Vijay Shankar in the final 15 for the upcoming 50-overs World Cup after his match-winning performance in the second ODI against Australia on Tuesday. However, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder is not losing any sleep over his selection. He is well aware that there is still plenty of cricket to be played before the first ball is bowled in the World Cup.
Shankar first produced an 81 runs partnership with captain Virat Kohli in which he slammed a quickfire 48 off 41 deliveries and then bowled the final over in the pressure situation to take two wickets in three balls to bowl out the Australians.
When asked what was going through his mind during that final over Shankar said, he was mentally prepared for it and was not under any pressure.
“I was just ready for the challenge because I knew I had to bowl that one over. And I was just telling after the 43rd-44th over, I’m going to bowl anytime. Maybe the last over and I should be ready to defend a total of 10 runs or 15 runs. So, I think basically I was mentally prepared for that,” said the match winning all-rounder. Shankar who was criticised for his slow batting during the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka late last year said that tournament has taught him a lot.
“To be honest the Nidahas Trophy has taught me too many things. I learnt to how to stay neutral after that. Be it high or low, it doesn’t matter. I need to stay calm and neutral all the time. I’ve told previously also that I never think about the selection or World Cup thing because it’s a long way off from now and we have too many matches to play after this. Every game is very important. I just look to giving my best and win a game for the team,” added Shankar.
Shankar, who was hit for 13 runs in his first over during the second ODI, said he is working hard on his bowling
“Every session, I work very hard on all aspects of my game, especially bowling. I know I need to keep working on it. Sometimes, in the last two games that I played, I might not have bowled much, I might have gone for runs in the overs that I bowled. Last over was much-needed over for me and to defend that... this will give the team some confidence that I can do it. Only when I start doing it (bowling well), the team will start trusting me a lot more and I’ll start bowing a lot more. It’s all in my hands. I need to keep delivering wherever I get the ball,” Shankar explained.
Shankar said his is not goading over the two wickets he got in the last over and also played down his freak run out during the match.
“I am just pretty neutral. Just because I got the two wickets in the last over does not make me feel really high or happy. I am happy about that but I am not so high and all. I am trying to enjoy the moment and then go ahead with that.
“Of course, when you get run out like this, I won’t say unfortunate, that was struck and he (Kohli) hit the ball so hard and I didn’t have much time to get back in (to the crease) but then these things happen in cricket. As long as I bat well and as long as contribute to the team’s win, I will be happy.”
It was his seam partner Jasprit Bumrah who guided him after the 48th over was bowled. Bumrah gave only 1 run in that over which put more pressure on Australia.
“After the 48th over, Bumrah came up to me and said that the ball is reversing a bit and he told me that I need to hit the right length on this wicket, where I give myself a chance to hit the stumps. When he told that, I was mentally clear and I thought I should do that.
“The only way to defend those runs is (by) picking wickets, if I can bowl straighter, (I’ll) give myself a chance to take wickets, I’ll have more chance to hit the stumps,” said Shankar.
The all rounder said it was difficult to bat on the wicket which was slow and had low bounce.
“It was little bit difficult in the morning, I felt it was coming a bit slow and the bounce was also not that much. It was bit low when compared to other normal wickets. It’s a challenge for us to adapt ourselves quickly to it (the pitch) and do it for the team, whatever the team needs at that point of time…. We had good communication in the middle, me and Virat had a good partnership and it was very important for me as well, so I enjoyed playing (in) that situation and did reasonably well,” he added.
This was not for the first time that Shankar had bowled the last over of the innings.
“I have bowled the last over for my club or for my team that I play for. But, this is something, everyone would love to take that challenge, because you are representing your country and it is an opportunity for you to win the match for your country, so as I said I was (prepared).
“The preparation which I did after the 40th over helped me a bit to stay really calm. To be honest, I was not under any pressure, because to defend 10 runs, it is going to be a challenge but the good thing was they were (down) for eight and I had the opportunity to pick those two wickets and give myself a chance to win it for the team,” Shankar concluded.
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