'He was picked for CWC'19 for this kind of talent': Ravi Shastri lauds GT's in-form batter Vijay Shankar
Ravi Shastri's telling 'World Cup selection' remark on Vijay Shankar (Photo IPL/BCCI).
Match 13 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 edition went down to the wire, in Ahmedabad on Sunday (April 09). Hosting the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rashid Khan's Gujarat Titans (GT), in absence of regular captain Hardik Pandya, scored 204-4 after opting to bat first but couldn't defend the score as they failed to defend 29 off the last six balls.
Rinku Singh smashed a breathtaking 21-ball 48*, after KKR's Venkatesh Iyer's 43-ball 80 and skipper Nitish Rana's 45 (29), to shatter defending champions GT's hopes. From GT, there were plenty of positives with fifties from Sai Sudharsan (53), Vijay Shankar's 24-ball 63*, laced with 4 fours and 5 sixes at 262.50, and Rashid's hat-trick but it all ended in a losing cause.
Shankar, who scored 56 runs in his first two outings in IPL 2023, is in good form. He started 2019 with some good knocks for India as well, before the 2019 ODI World Cup squad was announced. In another ODI WC year, with the showpiece event to be held in India in October-November, Ravi Shastri opened up on his form.
It is to be noted that Shastri was India's head coach when Shankar was picked, surprisingly ahead of Ambati Rayudu, for the ODI WC in 2019. While speaking on Star Sports, the former cricketer-turned-commentator said, "The fact that Vijay was picked for the World Cup is because he had this kind of talent. And I am glad that he has gone back, worked hard, and not given up. You know he has had some tough times, he has had an operation as well, but he has come back strong."
Shastri added, "Beautiful hitting today because he is a clean striker of the ball, he has got a wide range of shots and, because of his reach and height, he can hit the ball a long, long way. Great to see. This is the strength of the Gujarat Titans. They have got some power hitters in the back end of the innings. So if they get off to a good start then they are a very dangerous side at the back end of the innings."
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Shankar-starrer GT will now face Punjab Kings (PBKS), at the IS Bindra Cricket Stadium, Mohali, on Thursday (April 13).