Cloud over Vijay Shankar’s status for Afghanistan match

There was a big injury scare for India as Vijay Shankar looked in great discomfort after being hit on the toe by Jasprit Bumrah yorker during a net session. There are fears that he could miss India’s upcoming match against Afghanistan, with some people also speculating that Shankar could also be sidelined for an extended duration.

Though Shankar has not batted or bowled in the nets, he has been participating in running drills which will raise hopes that he could be fit for the Afghanistan encounter. It remains to be seen whether India risk Shankar’s fitness against the bottom-placed side or whether an opportunity arises for the likes of Dinesh Karthik or Rishabh Pant.

Bumrah who was involved in the unfortunate incident largely allayed fears over Shankar’s injury status. Speaking to the media, he said:

“We don’t obviously want to injure the batsman, but sometimes when we play in the nets, nobody tells the batsman not to hit. He hits you as well. So that’s not the aim. It’s unfortunate that he got hit, but he’s okay. He’s fine. But you have to do all your preparation, you have to practise all your deliveries. The best preparation for me is to bowl to batsmen. I try to do all of that. Sometimes it happens, you’re unfortunate sometimes that you’re hit. It’s part and parcel of the game. You’re not focusing on all of that. You’re just focusing on your preparation. The batsman does what he wants to.”