ICC World Cup 2019 | Virat Kohli backs Vijay Shankar to perform big ahead of England clash

When Shankar was sent in ahead of Kedar Jadhav against Pakistan, with less than five overs to spare, fans and pundits alike questioned the choice. But Shankar redeemed himself with the ball, removing Imam Ul-Haq with his first ball, and then captain Sarfaraz Ahmed later in the innings. However, the joy did not last long for the young all-rounder from Tamil Nadu. After scores of 29 and 14 against Afghanistan and West Indies respectively, skipper Kohli has been asked to replace Shankar with Rishabh Pant. 

However, as a batsman himself, Virat sympathised with Shankar’s struggle to convert starts into bigger scores, and make a solid contribution in the middle order for India. 

“It's a strange one because he had a decent game against Pakistan. I think against Afghanistan on that pitch he looked really assured. Shot selection, again, we discussed with him for that game. Last game, again, he came out, he looked really good, and he got a beautiful ball from Kemar Roach,” Virat was quoted saying by PTI.

Virat assessed Shankar’s innings even further, and said that the youngster is close to playing a match winning innings for the country. 

"So you can't really sit down and pinpoint things. There's not much that needs to be tinkered. Sometimes in cricket you just need a bit of luck to get over from 30 to 60, and then you play a defining knock for the team. We're very confident he's going to end up playing that kind of knock for us," Virat added.

In contrast to popular opinion, former England cricketer Kevin Petersen has also come to the defence of Shankar. He tweeted out on his account urging Kohli and the team management to keep the youngster in the team. 

“Dear Virat and Ravi - please don't drop Vijay Shankar. I think he's coming into his own and would potentially win you tomorrow's game," Petersen said.