Eight matches, 205 runs at an average of 41, and an excellent strike-rate of 158.91. It has been a very good IPL season for Gujarat Titans’ all-rounder Vijay Shankar so far and the 32-year-old’s intent and power-hitting game has left a lasting impression. In an exclusive freewheeling chat with News18 CricketNext, Vijay talks about his rehab days, the success in the Ranji Trophy, preparations for the IPL, and what makes Gujarat Titans a special team to be a part of.
Excerpts:
It’s turning out to be a very good season for you. Hard runs for the team at a very healthy strike-rate. How pleased are you with the way the season is unfolding?
It’s been pretty good. Have been hitting well, and had a very good domestic season before coming here. Which was very important for me. And then to come here and work on a few things with Gary (Kirsten) and get that going… it’s very important in IPL. For me to do this whenever the team requires is very important. Felt happy while contributing my bit to the team.
From foggy Delhi to sunny Chennai, you were very consistent in the Ranji Trophy this season. Scoring those runs for Tamil Nadu. How much did that help? Different formats but no substitute for game time.
100%. It might be a different format but at the end of the day what was important for me was to play a lot of cricket because I missed five-six months of cricket. So for me to come and play domestic was really important. I was looking forward to playing Ranji Trophy and as you said, to do well in Ranji Trophy and come here with some runs, will give any cricketer satisfaction. Some confidence will be there when you come here with runs. I wanted to actually play cricket, that’s it. The time that I missed not playing cricket taught me a lot of things. I worked on a lot of things – physically, mentally, diet-wise, everything. It was good to you know come back and do well.
Talk us through that rehab period. The kind of changes you made to your regime, diet, and how was that phase for you? Especially the time with family and your little boy.
Yes, definitely you know a lot of changes have been made during my rehab. I need to thank my trainer Mr Rajini and Dhananjay, who was my physio at NCA. They both took care of me so well and then all the coaches there who helped me, mainly Hrishikesh Kanitkar. I had a special chat with (VVS) Laxman sir about a lot of things. A lot of important things happened during those five months. I took a serviced apartment in Bengaluru and took my family there. I was there for three months and it was a good time. All you need to know is that if you want to push really hard, you need to stay really focussed. I feel why I did well in domestic was because of those five months where I put 100% commitment towards my rehab which is supposed to be the toughest thing.
Mentally it’s not easy to actually stay at 100%. It is really tough to keep pushing ourselves every now and then because sometimes you watch some other match and then you get disappointed by watching someone play cricket and all that. There will be ups and downs but my family has always been there whenever I had those difficult times. Now again with my son being 18 months, it’s a nice time to spend more time with him. I really enjoyed my journey so far as a parent, as a dad. It teaches a lot. Not just in terms of cricket but even otherwise in terms of how we lead our life. It’s something really important for me. I try to stay neutral and I look to learn a lot of things. I try to give my 100% in what I do so that’s been my strength and I think that’s why I was able to come out earlier than expected from my surgery.
As you said, it gets frustrating to watch cricket and not play. During those days, who were you go to people to talk to? About cricket or otherwise?
Other than Laxman sir, it was Hrishikesh Kanitkar who was the coach at the NCA. I worked with him back in 2016 when he was Tamil Nadu’s coach. And after that, it was R Prasanna, who was TN’s batting coach last year. It’s very few people that I talk to about cricket. I was mostly focused on my training, my diet, I even went and did some mental conditioning with my friend who is doing it. I feel it was very important for me to come out of a lot of things mentally so that I can be at my very best in cricket.
I feel you don’t have to look too far for inspiration when it comes to returning from injury because your captain Hardik Pandya has been there, and done that. How much does that inspire?
For any cricketer, it’s about being sincere to your rehab. I feel both of us were really sincere in doing our own bit and then the physios, trainers, and everyone who was part of it made a big difference. So it’s just about being very sincere about our journey. Because it’s tough to miss out on playing cricket for more than four-five months. It’s a very long time for us. I think for both of us, it was great learning. For him (Hardik), to come back and lead India from there is really really special. It would have been his dream and for him to lead India and even here (GT), the way he is taking the team forward is something we all enjoy because at this time lot of different players chip in at different times. That’s why we are able to do well in most situations. For every cricketer, it’s just about getting better every day. So if you are open-minded and can learn a lot of things from our own team, there’s nothing like it. The best thing about GT is that we are happy for each other.
Vijay Shankar was always the compact and tight better. But this year, you have showcased the power in your game too, especially in that game against KKR where you certainly would have given nightmares to Varun Chakravarthy. How much work was put in to up the power game?
Just before the start of this season, we had a camp here in Ahmedabad and I was working specifically with Gary. He asked me to change a couple of things, I tried doing that and felt really good when it started working for me. I started trusting whatever I learned and I should definitely thank all the support staff here, all the side-armers. Because if not for them, I wouldn’t have been able to try those (things). The number of balls I was hitting here is just unbelievable. Those number of balls we generally hit only in the off-season. So just before the season to hit that many balls and even during the season to hit those many balls, credit must go to support staff.
How many balls would you face on an average in a session?
It’s difficult to keep count… Usually in the IPL, you don’t get to practice for an hour. Every session, every batter here bats for an hour. It’s just unbelievable and it’s just about practicing harder and harder and getting better. More we practice, the better we get.
Talking about the change, was it more related to your grip or slightly opening up the stance?
Very hard to pinpoint one change and mostly it was the mental shift that helped me more than the technical.
Every player in GT has an Ashish Nehra story. Everything he touches turns to gold and this year you have truly turned into 24 carats. How has it been working with him?
To be very honest, the season that I had last year. And for me to be retained and then play and do well, a lot of credit must go to him. If not for him, I wouldn’t have been playing here. You can actually see that he has played a lot of cricket. Whatever he speaks, he explains and expresses it in such a way that we either understand or he will give that as a suggestion. It’s so good for us to have someone like him. As I said, it’s just about learning. And the energy he has… every time you go for a practice session is unbelievable. That’s why I said we practice so hard. If not for him, I don’t think we would have got to practice for so many hours. It’s nice to have someone like him. The way he takes the team forward is really special. He finds a way to get everyone involved in the game and on the same page. Be it the captain or net bowler. All are equal. The last year, the first time we met, that was the first thing he said, ‘no captain, no net bowler. All are equal’.
Another World Cup year and Vijay Shankar is not putting a foot wrong. Do you reckon the stars have aligned in your favour and you are ready to grab the opportunity when it comes your way?
I am not thinking much of it honestly because it’s a long way from here and If I keep doing what I am doing, things will eventually happen. I don’t have to dream of getting into the World Cup team or getting back into the Indian team, I think if you are on the right path, things will happen automatically. I believe in my work ethic, I believe in giving my 100% every time. If I keep doing that, things will happen automatically. I don’t have to have that tag of these things, if it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, we will enjoy playing cricket.
Get the latest Cricket News, IPL 2023 Live Score, Orange Cap and Purple Cap holder details here
Comments
0 comment