Indian cricket fans will never forget the moment when Soumya Sarkar strode into the bowl the last ball of the Nidahas Trophy final with India requiring nothing but a six to lift the trophy, Vijay Shankar, sitting in the dressing room with his eyes shut and wished Dinesh Karthik does it for India. When Shankar opened his eyes, he took a deep breath, prayed again and rushed to embrace Karthik, one of his mentors and idols. Recalling the moment, he said, “I’m not exaggerating, that was the most unforgettable moment in my life.”

India’s fortunes in the final were decided in the space of just 15-20 minutes. Talking about the same, Vijay said, “15 minutes, really? I felt it for an hour or two?. I keep thinking what would have happened to me if DK hadn’t struck that six and we’d lost. I also think what would have happened if I hadn’t soaked up those many dot balls, maybe we would have won easily, and I would have been an anonymous figure. I’m thankful to him for winning the match, but at the same time I’m rueful that I missed a great opportunity to win the match myself.”

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Shankar not only got disappointed on failing to take India over the line, but he feels that he lost the chance of making an impact he would have made on his budding international career. Describing the same, Vijay said, “When I went to bat, I was fairly confident of what I was supposed to do, give as much strike as possible to Manish (Pandey), and to hit boundaries if the ball was in my slot. I have gone through several such situations in domestic cricket.”

Shankar failed to decode the counterfeit mastery of Mustafizur Rahman, but compensated it with another slog off Sarkar through mid-wicket. But, in Rahman’s over, Shankar managed only a leg bye off the first five balls, before Pandey perished in pursuit of the big shot. He said, “We knew it was a matter of taking singles and twos of Fizz and attacking the other bowlers. I love hitting over and through cover. It’s the shot I’m famous for. But here I couldn’t connect even a single ball.”

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Vijay might have dissected Mustafizur’s subtle crafts, but being out there and facing him in a crunch situation in the final was an entirely different experience. Even the much-experienced Rohit Sharma would vouch for that. With every ball he missed, he felt like his head was spinning and heart shaking. He said, “I have only heard in the commentary of pressure-cooked moments. My mind that evening was like a pressure cooker.”

Still, Shankar had an opportunity to forgive himself, with the penultimate ball of the match, with India five runs for the victory. And the ball, he says, was in his zone. Describing his dismissal, he said, “A little outside the off-stump, the length was perfect and I had enough width to place the ball wherever I wanted to. Again, I tried to hit it hard, vent out all my anger at it. On another day, that would have been a six.”

After coming back to the team hotel, despite getting himself locked into the room, Shankar heard a thud on his door. It was the familiar, beaming face of Karthik, even a few hours later, some of the senior teammates tried to cheer him up and advised him to move with the it-can-happen-to-all dullness. But Shankar needed a warm arm around his shoulder. Karthik was tired and hence didn’t spend too much time with him. But he understood the pangs of the youngster and comforted him.

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Describing the final advice he got from Karthik, Vijay said, “He told me not to be too harsh on myself and relax. ‘I’ve been through several such instances, and if you keep brooding over it, you will have the tendency to repeat the same old mistakes. It’s the time to show your strength and take lessons from it.’ Those words lifted my morale and I could sleep peacefully.”

To distract himself, Vijay has decided to play a few matches in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association League. But once the pressure of the 15-20 minutes sinks in, he would realise that the Colombo retort only made him tougher in spirit and hungrier in his quest for winning matches for India. And several years down the line, he might consider this as the turning point of his career.