Gujarat Titans batsman Vijay Shankar was being praised till the 19th over of the second innings in the 13th match of IPL 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He played an inning of 63 runs off 24 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, all the limelight was later grabbed by Kolkata batsman Rinku Singh as he hit five consecutive sixes in the last over to secure the win for the team. Meanwhile, a statement from Team India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri has surfaced, in which he has once again backed Vijay Shankar’s selection for the 2019 World Cup.
Vijay Shankar was selected in the Indian squad for the ODI 2019 World Cup and Ambati Rayudu was left out. The selectors’ reasoning behind his selection was that he is a 3D player. But he couldn’t do much and got knocked out of the tournament due to an injury. After that, he did not get a chance in international cricket but remained active in domestic cricket. He also had an operation during this time. However, Vijay Shankar’s election has always been a matter of discussion. The team management has certainly supported it, so Ravi Shastri has supported Vijay Shankar’s selection to date.

Ravi Shastri, who was commentating during Gujarat vs Kolkata match on Sunday, told Star Sports, “It is true that Vijay Shankar was selected for the World Cup because of the kind of talent he had and I’m glad he was part of the team. He worked hard and never gave up. You know he went through a tough time. He also had an operation, but he came back stronger.” Vijay Shankar had some clean hits in the last few overs against Kolkata. He played unbeaten innings of 63 runs in this match.

Ravi Shastri added, ‘I saw beautiful hitting from him today. He is a clean striker of the ball. He can hit big shots. Due to his body structure and height, he can hit the ball very far. It looks good. That is the strength of Gujarat Titans. They have several power hitters at the end of the innings. So if they start well, they can be very dangerous at the end of the innings. Vijay Shankar may be far away from making a comeback to the Indian team at present. But it is hoped that he too can return to the Indian team. But for that, he needs to play some more strong innings in the current IPL. Only then will he be able to knock on the doors of the Indian team?’