India's no.4 contender Vijay Shankar walked off the training with an injury ahead of India's first warm-up game against New Zealand.
Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya's strength areas are completely different from each other and perhaps that is the reason he feels he is not in any race with Pandya.
Vijay Shankar has been chosen by the selectors to bat at No.4 but is he the best option going into a World Cup?
Shankar will be playing for the first time in the World Cup. The player said being part of the 15-member squad is really special as the tournament happens once every four years.
Vijay Shankar was picked ahead of players like Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu for the World Cup in England and Wales.
India are looking at Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul for the No.4 spot in the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.
There has been debate over Shankar being picked in the England-bound India team ahead of Ambati Rayudu, with the selectors saying they went for the "three-dimensional skills" offered by the all-rounder.
Gautam Gambhir feels the selectors have missed out on thinking out-of-the-box and bringing in a few unknown faces to take the opponents by surprise.
Not long after Rayudu seemed to have cemented the No.4 spot, he finds himself searching for answers to what led to his omission from the ICC World Cup 2019.
With his "three-dimensional qualities", the Tamil Nadu player took the slot which was speculated to go to Ambati Rayudu before his dip in form in the home series against Australia last month.
Who between the two finally seals the second wicket-keeper's spot is likely to be the most discussed topic during the meeting on Monday.
Shankar said that even when he was down and out, it was the SRH management which backed him and helped him come back strongly, so his focus is the IPL.
It has been learnt that the Indian team management is very happy with Shankar's technique and more importantly his temperament in pressure situations.
India have tried a number of players for the spot including Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar and Ambati Rayudu but all of them have failed at times under pressure.
Marcus Stoinis was keeping the hopes alive for the Aussies as they needed 11 runs off the final over but it just was not to be.
Virat Kohli handed the ball to Vijay Shankar when Australia needed 11 runs from the last over and India required two wickets for a win.
Vijay Shankar kept his cool in the last over to help India beat Australia by 8 runs in Nagpur and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
India and Australia will look to fill the gaps when they take on each other in the five-match ODI series, starting on Saturday in Hyderabad.
Shankar has showed that he is a capable batsman, having scored 45 off 64 deliveries in a match-winning 98-run stand with Ambati Rayudu after the top-order collapse in the final ODI in New Zealand.
Pant was on Friday included at the cost of veteran Dinesh Karthik, who had a mixed tour of Australia and New Zealand in the limited over formats.
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