Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Vijay Shankar right men for World Cup, says VVS Laxman

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a regular for India for quite some time now, and was a certainty in the 15-man World Cup squad. However, his IPL teammate Vijay Shankar was not on the radar of the selectors until Hardik Pandya’s omission in the series in Australia and New Zealand. And Shankar grabbed the opportunity with both the hands as he will now likely play at the crucial number four spot in the mega tournament.

“I can see these players contributing in team’s success in a major way,” he added.

“The conducive English conditions will suit my strength and I am looking to make most of it,” expressed Kumar.

He has been playing in the cash-rich league since 2011 and has won the Purple Cap for two consecutive seasons in 2016 and 2017. The pacer feels that the matches in IPL have given him the confidence to perform at the highest level. 

On the other hand, all-rounder Vijay Shankar was also delighted to be a part of India in World Cup. He has come a long way since his sluggish innings against Bangladesh at the Nidahas Trophy final to become a part of the national team on the greatest stage.

The Tamil Nadu player has played 67 List A matches scoring 1613 runs at an average of around 36. He was even awarded the Man of the Match for his all-round performance against Australia in the second ODI at Nagpur. He played a crucial knock of 46 to bail India out from a precarious position, and scalped two wickets in the last over of Australia’s chase, thereby bowling them out for nine runs short of the target. He termed his selection as a dream come true.

Australia are the defending champions of the cup, and their batsman David Warner is a part of SRH. Shankar feels that the inputs from World Cup winning players will greatly help him with respect to his campaign.

“We have a few World cup winning team members here at SRH and I have spoken to them to understand what it feels like to play in a World Cup and then go on to win it. I have learnt a lot from them on the ways to manage pressure at such a large scale event,” he signed off.