ICC World Cup 2019 | Mayank Agarwal approved by ICC technical committee as Vijay Shankar replacement

Vijay Shankar was ruled out of the World Cup yesterday after he had suffered a Jasprit Bumrah ball hit him in the toes while he was batting in the nets ahead of the England game. It was diagnosed to be a non-displaced fracture of the left big toe which could take up to three weeks to heal, leading India to appeal to the ICC to replace him with Mayank Agarwal.

On Monday, the ICC Technical committee comprising of Geoff Allardice, Campbell Jamieson, Steve Elworthy, Alan Fordham, Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara approved the request and officially allowed Mayank Agarwal to be the fifteenth member of the Indian squad for the ongoing World Cup. 

Vijay Shankar has failed to make any real impact on the team. He has played only three innings scoring a meagre 58 runs at an average of 29. Whenever the onus was on him to step up to the team’s rescue, he failed to do so.

Mayank Agarwal, on the other hand, has represented India in Tests having made his debut against Australia last year. He scored at an average of 65 in the couple of matches he played but is yet to make his debut in the white ball formats. However, he has an impressive first class and list-A record with 7,500-plus runs at an average of 64-plus. 

The 28-year-old from Karnataka usually opens the innings and, if needed, can also fill in the number four spot if KL Rahul does not perform according to expectations.