In ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, India are all set to meet Afghanistan next on Saturday. For this match, both the teams were spotted sweating it out in the nets.
However, one Indian player was injured during the net practice session. It is to be noted that a Jasprit Bumrah delivery had stuck Vijay Shankar on his toe.
Vijay Shankar experiences injury scare
The nature of Vijay Shankar’s injury is not very serious. Nothing much has been clarified about the issue. However, Shankar did not attend the practice on Thursday as a precautionary measure.
Post this incident, Jasprit Bumrah has stated that it was quite “unfortunate such incidents happen during practice and thankfully Shankar’s injury is not that serious”.
World Cup debut against Pakistan
28-year-old Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar made his World Cup debut against Pakistan on Sunday (16 June). India went on to win the match by 89 runs.
Although India’s hero of the match was centurion Rohit Sharma, Vijay Shankar entered the record books when he took a wicket off his very first ball in World Cup. Shankar became the first Indian to do so.
Shankar picked up a wicket in Bhuvi’s over
Shankar had actually picked up a wicket in an over which was meant to be finished by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar injured himself while bowling and Shankar was called up to finish the over. It was then that Vijay Shankar picked up a wicket and entered the record books.
It is worth noting that star Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has already been ruled out of the World Cup owing to his thumb injury. Even Bhuvneshwar Kumar will not be available for selection for the next couple of matches. In this context, Vijay Shankar’s role in the Playing XI becomes all the more important and his injury scare might have, for a brief while, tensed the Indian dugout and fans.
Thankfully for the Indian team management and fans alike, Vijay Shankar is expected to be available for selection against Afghanistan on Saturday.