ICC World Cup 2019: Vijay Shankar Ruled Out, India Ask For a Replacement

India all-rounder Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the ongoing ICC World Cup due to an injury in his toe and Mayank Agarwal is likely replacing him in the squad. Vijay Shankar, however, failed to impress with his performance, despite getting chances several times.

“Vijay got hit on the toe by a Jasprit Bumrah delivery once again. His situation is not great and he won’t be able to take part in the tournament. He is going back home,” a senior BCCI official was quoted by PTI who shared about the situation of Vijay Shankar.

“The Indian team management is likely to ask for Mayank Agarwal as a replacement since he is an opener and also it might give KL Rahul a chance to get back to the No.4 position in case Rishabh Pant fails in the next two games,” the source further added.

Mayank Agarwal, 28, plays for Karnataka as an opener. He made his Test debut last year against Australia and yet to make his ODI debut. He has been in a great form and scores at a good run-rate in the opening slot. He even has a pretty good average in List A cricket for the last 24 months.

He has played 31 innings for the last one year in List A cricket where he scored more than 1,700 runs with the strike rate of 105.75 which came at an average of 58.23. He has scored 7 centuries and 5 half-centuries during that period. Even he has a good record in England as well where he played 6 innings with 442 runs in his name. That came at a strike rate of 113.62 and at an average of 88.40, including 3 centuries.

Meanwhile, it is expected that ICC’s tournament technical committee will approve Mayank Agarwal’s name and he will arrive in Birmingham and then travel to Leeds later.

Rohit Sharma, however, had mentioned earlier about Vijay Shankar’s injury.

“There is no uncertainty with regard to the number four position, Vijay Shankar was supposed to play but before the game he got hit on the toe by Jasprit (Bumrah) and he wasn’t fit. Every team will have these one or two changes happening every now and then,” expressed India opener, Rohit Sharma.

India, on the other hand, lost their first group league match to England by 31 runs at Edgbaston on Sunday. Though that didn’t affect much on their qualification scenario for the semi-finals. They will now play against Bangladesh at the same ground on Tuesday and Sri Lanka on July 6 at Headingley, Leeds respectively.