Vijay Shankar replacement: Indian all-rounder has been surprisingly ruled out of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
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India all-rounder Vijay Shankar has been surprisingly ruled out of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. India captain Virat Kohli had announced before the match against England yesterday that Shankar has succumbed to a toe injury.
While the extent of the same was unknown, it was highly unlikely that Shankar would get ruled out of the tournament. The fact that Shankar was carrying drinks yesterday signified that the injury wasn’t too serious.
However, the current development means that the 28-year old cricketer will have to travel back to India. “Vijay [Shankar] got hit on the toe by a Jasprit Bumrah delivery once again. His situation is not great and he won’t be able to take part in the tournament. He is going back home,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI.
In the three ODIs which Shankar played during the tournament, he scored 15*, 29 and 14, failing to convert his starts into a significant score. While he picked up a couple of wickets in the first match against Pakistan, he wasn’t required to bowl in the next two matches.
Vijay Shankar replacement
In a shocking development, India have included opening batsman Mayank Agarwal as Shankar’s replacement. While Agarwal is an adept batsman, he is yet to play an ODI. The 28-year old batsman had made his Test debut during the Boxing Day Test against Australia last year.
“The Indian team management is likely to ask for Mayank Agarwal as a replacement since he is an opener and also it might give KL Rahul a chance to get back to the No. 4 position in case Rishabh Pant fails in the next two games,” the source added.
Perhaps, it is Agarwal’s outstanding List A record in England which saw his name getting the nod ahead of the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill.
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