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Vijay Shankar: I want to be a genuine allrounder


rkt.india

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The terrace of Vijay Shankar's house doubles up as his his make-shift indoor nets © Deivarayan Muthu

 

Vijay Shankar's two-story independent house is tucked away in a corner of a lane in Madipakkam, in south suburban Chennai. The first thing that meets the eye is the car-park area, where Vijay began his journey with his father H Shankar and elder brother Ajay, who plays lower-division cricket in Tamil Nadu. As a teenager Vijay crunched balls in that small space kept aside to park cars with his father and brother, often getting hit while fielding.

As Vijay rose through age-group cricket, the car-park area just wasn't enough, and the unruly Chennai traffic meant that travelling to the Chakrathar Rao academy, run by the former Ranji cricketer, ate up at least two hours.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, H Shankar said, "With the car-park slot being 15 feet in width and around 35 feet only in length, I felt it was very, very small and restricted his strokeplay, and the travelling time was tiring." What did he do then?

The twin terraces of the house were levelled into one and turned into a personal training area with nets, a synthetic astro turf, and a bowling machine. The teenager could cut, drive, pull, or bowl at any time.

Vijay's grandmother flips through TV channels on a television set that is housed in a cabinet filled with many trophies as Vijay, 24, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, seems relaxed.

No bulging biceps. No funky hairdos or tattoos. Vijay is almost the archetypal boy next door - he likes spending time with friends, setting off on long drives, and is a fan of Manchester United.

On the field, Vijay can grind attacks and shape the innings from the middle order besides pitching in with medium pace. He also showed that he can shift gears during his 86 for India A against Bangladesh A in Bangalore. He sent one clattering onto the glass front of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium media box, which had his personal coach S Balaji saying: "For a vegetarian he can hit the ball a long way."

On the first day of Tamil Nadu's Ranji opener against Baroda Vijay could only watch from the stands, as he sat with a strapped shoulder, and one could sense that he wanted to be out there in the middle. Later on, he joined the team after the thrilling win.

Having recovered from the shoulder injury, Vijay's return for the fifth round will bolster Tamil Nadu who found themselves at the wrong end of a similar heist against Mumbai.

Vijay also suffered injuries at the start of the 2014-15 Ranji season but bounced back strongly, which mirrored Tamil Nadu's comeback as well. He tallied 577 runs in seven matches, including two centuries and three fifties, as Tamil Nadu advanced to the final only to be beaten by Karnataka. Vijay then scored a fifty on India A debut against an Australia A attack comprising Gurinder Sandhu, Sean Abbott and Steven O'Keefe. He followed it up with a resolute 74 not out in the fourth innings, guiding India A to a draw against South Africa A in Wayanad.

Remind Vijay of the Ranji knockouts, where here he piled up scores of 111, 82, 91 and 103 in the quarter-final, semi-final and final, and he flashes a big smile like a kid does while navigating his toy car.

Vijay, however, conceded that injuries bring negative thoughts and lauded the strong support system that helped him quell them.

"It was not easy. You get negative thoughts when you keep sitting outside and doing nothing," Vijay said. "My family's influence has helped me stay calm even in the middle. My father, who has played a bit of cricket, comes to Chepauk to watch every game I play. My brother, Ajay, who plays lower-division games, and I discuss cricket often. My sister-in-law, my grandmother, and the entire family have been the biggest support for me."

"I started training hard and did some knocking in the nets, and ensured that I did not give much time for those thoughts. I practised with my friends, my brother, when Apar [Baba Aparajith] and Inder [Baba Indrajith] are here, we practise. Even if there is nobody I go out to the nets and practise pace."

Vijay had started as an offspinner before switching to medium pace to lend more balance to an already spin-heavy Tamil Nadu attack. Vijay had some no-ball issues last season but worked them out with former coach WV Raman and produced timely breakthroughs.

"I want to be a genuine allrounder. I want to balance both and can't sacrifice one for the other," Vijay said.

Vijay has a special bond with the Baba twins, Aparajith and Indrajith, who share the same personal coach: "With Balaji Sir, it has been about 10 years for me. It is very nice to know where we are all now. All three, myself, Aparajith, Indrajith, are doing well at first-class level. This is the best thing we can give back to our coach.

"We have been playing together since Under-13 days. We know our games well. In the TNCA league, we have played for Vijay CC, Indian Bank together and then Tamil Nadu of course."

With M Vijay leaving on India duty, the onus is on Vijay Shankar to prove his fitness and act as the binding force for the state side again. While Vijay was wary of the challenges ahead, he believed that Tamil Nadu had it in them to go one step more this season.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2015-16/content/story/934665.html

He is another option for an alrounder slot. He is a proper batsman who can bowl.

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everyone in india wants to be good bowler but they ends their career with batting allrounder. I wish Vijay Shankar become great allroundr for india because we need one in all format.plus- point for Vijay is, his state has good coach with great support and favor from RD.

I just read above Article, its well written, I am impress, I knows my friend in 1977 in Ahmedabad,gujrat used to be a wicketkeeper in our society cricket team, but he was doing practice for 3 hour during morning and afternoon, just like Vijay Shankar.he was selected in indian school team for tour of England as wicket-keeper batsman later on he played for gujrat ranji trophy matches and once selected for indian school team. vs touring England school where he performs wonderful with the Gloves.Later on he was selected vs touring England team [ senior ] vs them he open and put on 1oo for first wicket.playing for BPXL.

he told me',he wants to go further but he need support from senior player and those days Gujarati players not easily make it in high level. Sidharth Trivedi [ after 2014] and dhiraj parsana[ in 1980] are perfect example, they could play for india with better support and Guidance from senior.southzone had good backing and support on those days.

my friends name, Amit  shroff, presently in Chicago, usa.Jayaprakash Narayan was a spinner and allrounder also bright prospect but never make it and passed at tender age 19.

Edited by Wasim9211
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India I need of genuine allrounder...

good luck but not sure how easy to improve bowling at the age of 26..

Also Rohit is trying hard on his Bowling

 

Age 24. He is not a bad bowler at all. Bowls same pace as Binny. He is taller so will get more bounce. Can do a 5th bowlers job like Binny did in England but a better batsman than Binny, in fact, a proper batsman which he showed in A matches. Can easily be a #6 contender on next overseas leg if he keeps going well, averaging 57 in FC cricket right now.

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Age 24. He is not a bad bowler at all. Bowls same pace as Binny. He is taller so will get more bounce. Can do a 5th bowlers job like Binny did in England but a better batsman than Binny, in fact, a proper batsman which he showed in A matches. Can easily be a #6 contender on next overseas leg if he keeps going well, averaging 57 in FC cricket right now.

cricinfo shows his age as 26

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Age 24. He is not a bad bowler at all. Bowls same pace as Binny. He is taller so will get more bounce. Can do a 5th bowlers job like Binny did in England but a better batsman than Binny, in fact, a proper batsman which he showed in A matches. Can easily be a #6 contender on next overseas leg if he keeps going well, averaging 57 in FC cricket right now.

But Dhoni has  said that Binny is the best seaming all rounder we have....  :winky:

 

 

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Bowling is about junoon, Crai white was a mediocre cricketer n all of a sudden are an accident he became a effective n proper Bowler n a make do bat,once something clicks action wise or is tweaked n u R fit n strong u cud add a yard all of a sudden, Pandya n more so Mundhe is best bet as allrounder

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If he is 120s bowler, then thanks but no thanks. Enough of S.Ganguly, S. Binny, Rishi Dhawan, 120 lollipops.

But he is batsman first. He can easily play as a batsman. He has done far better than overrated Aparajiths. I wont mind a top 6 batsman who can bowl some tight overs to give rest to main bowlers.

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rkt, if he is batsman first then prolly ok, though I'd prefer a medium pacer (more a bowler) who can bat decently as A/R, rather than reverse (for A/R position). If he is a super batsman (yet to be proved) then we can consider for top 5

Edited by fineleg
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rkt, if he is batsman first then prolly ok, though I'd prefer a medium pacer (more a bowler) who can bat decently as A/R, rather than reverse (for A/R position). If he is a super batsman (yet to be proved) then we can consider for top 5

No. Batsman who can bowl is always preferred as a 5th bowler.

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At no. 6 , we need a proper batsman who can play quick bowlers and is a stroke maker. If he is a tall medium pacer on top of that then that is an added bonus.

Can Vijay play pace and is he a stroke-maker ?

He did play well against the pacers of SA A. They all at least hit 140k.

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