The allrounder Vijay Shankar has had a bumpy road to the top of international cricket. He was involved in the World Cup number-4 fiasco, and when he was selected over Ambati Rayudu, there was a lot of uproar, which had a bearing on the cricketer, who was unfairly pulled by the supporters.
Career
Domestic Career
Vijay made his Tamil Nadu debut against Andhra Pradesh in a List-A match in February 2012. He made 6 runs and did not take a wicket. Vijay made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu, scoring 63 runs and taking two wickets. He then went on to bowl an undefeated century in the next contest, effectively announcing his arrival.
In the 2014-2015 Ranji Trophy, Vijay stepped up his game, impressing with both the ball and the bat. He scored two centuries and three half centuries in his seven matches.
He batted at 57.7 and took 8 wickets to help his team win the tournament. Vijay received the Bishnuram Medhi award for State Cricketer of the Year from the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association for his outstanding performance. Vijay was given a place in the India A squad after a stellar domestic season.
Vijay scored an undefeated half century in his first match against Australia A, and then put in a good display in the series against South Africa A. Injuries plagued Vijay in 2016, but he bounced back in 2017. Vijay Hazare, who was given the captaincy, led his team to victory in the Vijay Hazare and Deodhar trophies.
IPL Career
Vijay was purchased by Chennai Super Kings for the 2014 IPL season, where he only played one match until the team was banned.
He was purchased by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2017 edition, where he played four matches and scored his first half-century. The allrounder was purchased for INR 3.2 crores by Delhi Daredevils for the 2018 season, where he played 13 matches and scored 212 runs. He was traded back to SRH before the start of the 2019 season and will feature for the team again in 2020.
International Career
Shankar was announced as the replacement for Hardik Pandya, who was banned for his controversial comments on a TV show, for the final two One Day Internationals (ODIs) of the Australian tour and the entire limited-overs series in New Zealand, in January 2019.
Vijay Shankar secured the much-debated number 4 spot in the Cricket World Cup after some solid results in the middle order in 2019 and a pressure last-over finish with the ball.
Due to an injury, Shankar has been ruled out of India’s final two matches, and Mayank Agarwal has been appointed as his substitute. The public later chastised the selectors for preferring Vijay Shankar over Ambati Rayudu.
He was named to India’s Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for the 2018 Nidahas Trophy in February 2018 and made his debut against Sri Lanka on March 6, 2018. He has so far featured in nine Twenty20 Internationals, taking five wickets and making 101 runs.
Background
Vijay was born on January 26, 1991, and is a middle order batsman as well as a versatile medium pacer. Vijay Shankar comes from a cricketing family; his father and brother, Ajay, both played lower-league cricket for Tamil Nadu.