Virat Kohli opens up why Vijay Shankar was roped in the team

Tamil Nadu ace all-rounder Vijay Shankar earned a dream call-up to the Indian team which he never even expected it. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been released from India Test squad and to Vijay Shankar got a wonderful opportunity to show who he is.

Indian captain Virat Kohli addressed the media at the pre-match press conference ahead of the second Test match against Sri Lanka at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur.

Kohli revealed that Vijay Shankar’s consistency brought him to the right place. The Indian captain also added saying that the management was in search of another all-rounder who empathises with medium pace bowling.

“Well, he (Shankar) has been very consistent and has earned his spot. We wanted to have a look at another all-rounder keeping in mind this aspect ( the batsman who bowls medium pace) of the team going forward,” Kohli said.

After the statement from Kohli there raised many eyebrows as Hardik Pandya is also in contention for the spot. However, Kohli said that Hardik is the first all-rounder but it is good to keep an extra one in covers which will help the team going forward.

“Obviously, Hardik is in our scheme of things as the first all-rounder but we need to find out more people with that kind of ability whom we can groom and make as backups for all- rounder’s spot when we travel abroad,” Kohli said.

According to Kohli, Vijay Shankar is a balanced cricketer who is good with the bat and with the ball as well. “The whole mindset of bringing him and keeping him in the set-up is to make him familiar with whats going on here and so that he understands what all he needs to work on his game as well,” he continued.

“He is a pretty balanced cricketer. Pretty composed, great fielder, handy with the ball and can easily can give you 10-12 overs a day. He is very solid with the bat of what I saw at the nets today. So big moment for him, he has earned it as I said,” he added.