Didn’t Take Chances During World Cup to Cement My Spot in Indian Team: Vijay Shankar

India all-rounder Vijay Shankar believes he missed out on two opportunities during the 2019 ICC World Cup to ensure he got a decent run in the side.

Vijay was part of India’s World Cup campaign but was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining a fracture on his toe.

“I missed out on two opportunities and one was against Afghanistan (when he scored 29). Against West Indies, I got a good delivery,” he told PTI.

“Before that I had successive 40 plus scores against New Zealand in a tough game and against Australia. Had I converted even one start into a big knock, it would have been a different story,” he added.

Vijay hasn’t been a part of the limited-overs side since the World Cup, with Shivam Dube coming in to replace an injured Hardik Pandya.

Pandya has generally been India’s first-choice all-rounder when fit but the 29-year-old from Tamil Nadu said that he cannot let Pandya’s status within the team bother him.

“If it starts affecting me (that Hardik is the No 1 choice) then I will lose out on games that I have with me. If I focus on the games that I have and have match-winning performances, then my name will be there in the circuit.”

“If I perform, people will talk about me and if some opportunity arises, I will be getting into the Indian side. So I can’t think about what other players are doing.”

Vijay further added that he is not looking at only being a survivor in the Indian team but has his sights set on being someone who can perform at the top level for a long time.

“My dream is not just to get there and be a mere survivor. Only if I excel, can I prolong my international career. It’s important for us to be at our best when we go to international level.”

Vijay has so far played 12 ODIs and 8 T20Is for India. He has scored five first-class hundred and 16 fifties in domestic cricket.