New Dehli: Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar on Thursday shared an absurd moment he and some Indian cricket team members witnessed in Manchester, a day ahead of India-Pakistan game, when they were out to have some coffee.
Speaking on Bharat Army podcast, he recalled that a Pakistan cricket fan came marching towards them and started literally abusing them.
“Few of us players had gone out for coffee one day before the game when a Pakistan fan came up to us and he was literally abusing us. So that was my first experience of an India-Pakistan game,” he said.
“We just had to take it. He was abusing us and recording everything, so we couldn’t react. All we could do was sit and watch what he was doing,” Shankar added.
The 29-year-old all-rounder, who is still trying to confirm his place in the Indian playing XI, might have only played just 12 ODIs and 9 T20Is but he made a noticeable impact in his debut game against Pakistan in Manchester last year.
“So one day before the game, they told me, be prepared, you’ll be playing. And I was like, ‘OK.'” he said.
Shankar was included in the playing XI as Shikhar Dhawan was sitting out due to an injury. He scored 15 runs in as many balls as India posted a huge first inning total of 336 runs for 5 wickets on the board.
In such a high tension game held on June 16, Shankar managed to become only the third bowler in the history of ODI World Cup to take a wicket off the very first ball he bowled.
