Shankar marvels on WC debut

Vijay Shankar was clueless against Bangladesh paceman Mustafizur Rahman, unable even to put the bat to ball as the asking rate kept climbing in the Nidahas T20 tri-series final in Colombo last year. But for his State-mate Dinesh Karthik’s blinder of a knock, Shankar would have been persecuted by the fans and the media for potentially costing India the title.

Those bitter memories may have briefly flashed through right-hander’s mind when he struggled to put Mohammad Amir away during their World Cup match against Pakistan here on Sunday. Shankar could only make run-a-ball 15 as India could gather no more than 33 runs in their last five overs. Twitter users went ballistic, criticising and even making fun of Shankar but it didn’t take too long for the all-rounder to redeem himself.

Called in to complete Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s third over after the paceman walked off with a left hamstring problem, Shankar struck with his first ball to remove opener Imam-ul-Haq. He later removed Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed who was the last batsman to get out in the chase. He returned impressive figures of 2/22 from 5.4 overs and the 28-year-old admitted his World Cup debut couldn’t have been any better.

“It is a very satisfying match for me,” said Shankar when asked about his maiden World Cup outing.

“Playing against Pakistan, making a World Cup debut against Pakistan is something which is a great thing for me. I just wanted to enjoy this moment because we rarely get such opportunities. World Cups come once in four years, the whole world will be watching this game. Making my World Cup debut in this game, I just thought I would enjoy myself a lot more,” he offered.

Shankar said keeping his mind free of clutter helped him in his bowling. India had to manage 7.2 overs between Kedar Jadhav and Shankar. While the rain ensured Pakistan innings was reduced to 40 overs, Shankar could have comfortably bowled his full quota if the innings had lasted its full duration.

“I was so blank, because I wasn’t expecting it at that time,” he said of his first wicket. “I think that also helped me at that time. It was swinging a bit for me so I just thought I should hit the right areas. Getting a wicket off your first ball is always special for any cricketer.”

On his struggles with the bat, especially against Amir, Shankar agreed that he wasn’t able to connect the ball well as it was reverse-swinging.

“On the back of the mind there was a slight thought that I wasn’t connecting but on the positive side I was just trying to hit through the line,” Shankar pointed out.

“I wasn’t going across. As a batsman, I’ll take it as a positive because it was reversing a lot and they were bowling wider lines. It happens. Maybe after a couple of innings when I have a flow, things will be totally different. Also, Kohli was at the other end on 50-60, it made more sense for me to take a single and give strike to him.”