OPINION
Follow UsPrior to the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction, Vijay Shankar’s stocks were at an all-time low.
There was a clear reason: his form.
In the preceding 2021 IPL, all that the right-hander managed was 58 runs in seven innings. That’s bad, what’s worse was he struck at 111.53, with just four boundaries.
That would have been acceptable had Shankar been 22. Even then, it would have been tough to trust a talent of such calibre. With the ball too, he wasn’t too big an impact for Sunrisers Hyderabad, which eventually forced the team to move him out of the setup.
At the 2022 IPL Auction, there weren’t a lot of suitors either. One knew Shankar’s calibre, and the other was willing to instil their faith and utmost trust in the all-rounder. The franchise which instilled their faith and trust – Gujarat Titans.
He wasn’t going to play a big role anyway, given Hardik Pandya was there in the setup, and that was the reality. Shankar played four games, scored 19 runs, and struck at 54.29.
4, 13, 2 and 0 were his scores.
Gujarat eventually went on to win an IPL title in their debut year. But did the all-rounder do enough to warrant a retention?
Nope, but that’s where a certain word has made a huge difference this year.
The trust.
Coming into this IPL season, Shankar knew that he had to put in the extra yard, and that was evidently visible when you look at his display in the domestic season. Leading into the Ranji Trophy clashes, there was a chance that Shankar wouldn’t even make it to the Ranji Trophy setup.
In seven Ranji Trophy games, Shankar stood out and scored 483 runs, including three centuries and averaging above 50. One of those came against Mumbai, a 103. And then he topped that with another century – 107 came against Maharashtra, in a clash where they needed him the most.
“You need to fight a lot of things here, and even a few months ago, there were lots of questions on whether I would be playing Ranji Trophy and all that. So, for me to come back and be where I am now, I feel happy and proud for the way I could utilise the rehab time,” Shankar told Sportstar.
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Unlike Money Ball, cricket isn’t yet played on Excel sheets. Gujarat as a franchise have succeeded exactly at that. They use data while still holding the instinctive decision-making of yesteryear. It wasn’t surely data that led them to take decisions. Add to it, the rule change - the Impact Player - allowed Shankar to play a bigger role.
In the opening fixture against CSK, he scored 27 off 21 balls, walking in at 111/3, chasing 179. Against Delhi yet again, he walked in a precarious position. They had just lost a wicket and were under the pump but in the short stay, Shankar ensured that Gujarat never slipped an inch.
You could say that these are knocks that any talent would produce. But on April 9, 2023, the world caught a proper note of who Vijay Shankar is, and that was a knock that came against Kolkata Knight Riders.
118/3, KKR just inched back into the contest but then Shankar happened. Three off three, and then suddenly, he’s on 16 off 10 with just one boundary. Sai Sudharsan too was dismissed at the other end. But against the high pace of Lockie Ferguson, Shankar turned into a different player altogether.
Or rather, turned into a player that everyone anticipated. Four, six, four, six in that over. And then, six, six six against Shardul Thakur. 63 off 24, and he literally turned the game around. That was it. Jai Jai Shankar.
“Enjoying a lot more (this season). Last year something was off. This year I came in after a lot of runs in domestic. The franchise retained me and showed confidence in me. The support staff has been helping me a lot since we started our camp here. Have been working really hard,” Shankar spoke after the KKR clash earlier in the tournament.
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Enter KKR again. Somehow, they are always at the wrong end of a Shankar special. If one was a rare instance, Shankar ensured that such opinions were banished. This innings of his had more gravitas, with the situation requiring some heavy lifting, on a surface that didn’t have a lot of pace.
91/2 turned 93/3, and the happy faces turned into jittery ones. You could sense the air around the Eden Gardens have some vibe to it. Gujarat were on the back foot and had only one thing in their head: payback.
It might have been Andre Russell who rang the bell and spoilt the evening for Gujarat earlier in the day.
Might.
Shankar stood up and showed the world yet again what he is made of. When he walked out to bat, there was a bit of chatter around.
You could sense that with how confident the Kolkata players were looking. Another wicket there, despite Rahul Tewatia’s presence, Kolkata would march like the guards in front of Buckingham Palace. He was eight off ten at one point. Suyash Sharma then bowled the perfect delivery, the wide one that put a lot of impetus into Shankar’s innings.
One four brought another six. And then Varun Chakravarthy walked in. The same who was all over RCB the other night.
Ball 1: Six, fired in full, and Shankar stays deep and slogs sweep it for a massive six
Ball 2: Six, another fuller delivery, and Shankar waits to slog sweep it yet again.
Ball 6: Six, flat and short, Shankar stays back and whacks a pull over mid-wicket for a massive six.
Let’s make more sense of it. Rinku Singh is incredible. Dhruv Jurel, oh he’s fab as well but Shankar is made of different gravy.
At the death (16-20), Shankar is the standard. He’s the best, and that’s perhaps what is more shocking than anything. In three innings, the right-hander has scored 113 runs off 42 deliveries. A boundary every 2.5 deliveries. A six every 3.8, all at a strike-rate of 269.1.
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“He's fitter, more confident and the amount of hard work he's done is terrific. Going forward, you'll see a lot of Vijay Shankar, I always believe in my life that good guys go to good places, I'm very happy,” said Hardik Pandya in the post-match presentation.
It is no coincidence that in a World Cup year, Vijay Shankar is putting on a show. He isn’t a three-dimensional player anymore but who knows, he can walk straight back into the setup. With or without a time machine, Shankar has turned the clock back.
