For the Indian fan, the Nidahas Trophy final between India and Bangladesh surrounded between the two men. While one became the toast of the nation after guiding the Men in Blue to a miraculous win, the other received a lot of flak for nearly costing India the game. Those two cricketers are Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar, eventually, they both belong to the same state, Tamil Nadu.
Shankar had made his debut in that very tournament and had done decently in the matches ahead of the final. He came to the crease at a difficult situation and with the chance of becoming an overnight sensation. However, the game did not pan out as per his expectation. He was even struggling to get his bat to the ball while the team needed more than 12 runs per over. He was eventually dismissed after scoring 17 off 19 balls and was slammed heavily by the fans.
But fortunately, the fans soon moved on as Karthik’s heroics took India over the line. The wicketkeeper-batsman launched a stunning counterassault to turn the game on its head before sealing a thrilling final with a last-ball six. Almost a year after that final, Shankar has opened up on how tough things were for him after that game.
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Recently during an interview with Times of India (TOI), Shankar said, “For the first one week or so, it was like a nightmare. I had many sleepless nights. But I have learned to manage these things. The only way to get out of it was to train really hard and don’t give me any time for negative thoughts. I have improved my skills since then and it has taught me so many things on the whole.”
However, the current scenario tells a whole different story for Shankar. He recently made his ODI debut during the series in Australia and has been quite impressive since then. He proved his worth with his big-hitting abilities in New Zealand and is in the contention for a World Cup spot. The 28-year old top-scored for India in the third T20I but unfortunately it came in a losing cause.
Recently, the head of the Indian selection committee MSK Prasad had stated that the all-rounder has a big chance of making it to India’s squad for the all-important World Cup. Some impressive performances in the upcoming series against Australia and the succeeding IPL could very well bolster his chances.
