Batting order flexibility is key in white ball cricket: Former all-rounder Vijay Shankar

Batting-order flexibility has become a key factor in modern white-ball cricket, and former India all-rounder Vijay Shankar believes players who can seamlessly adapt to different roles are increasingly valuable in a format driven by situational demands.

Having batted everywhere from Number 3 to Number 8 for India and in the IPL, Vijay said the game’s evolution has enhanced the importance of genuine all-rounders, who can contribute with both bat and ball while adjusting to the team’s requirements. He also stressed that aspiring all-rounders must embrace the demands of the role rather than complain about workload and fitness challenges.

“We as all-rounders can’t blame the workload. We became all-rounders after dealing with double workloads from the beginning. So fast-bowling all-rounders can’t blame any extra workload for their injuries or lack of fitness,” Vijay, who recently retired from Indian domestic cricket, said during an interaction.

For Vijay, all-rounders are genuine game-changers and also ones who are the most flexible in any set up because of their multiple skills. “The beauty of all-rounder is, you know, you bat anywhere and everywhere. So, the thing I had was that I was batting everywhere. I was batting up the order and at times down the order.  “Whatever the team needs, I was very flexible. That was like plus and minus for me. Because individually, I was not able to score bigger runs since I was floating up and down,” Vijay lamented about his brief international career in which he played 12 ODIs and 9 T20Is for the national team.

He recalled his brief stint with national team when he was used by Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli as a floater. In IPL, he played 78 games.

“The last time I batted for India in T20Is was actually at No. 3 in New Zealand. I have also batted No.7. I have batted No. 5, 6 everywhere. Even in IPL, I have batted from No.3 to No. 8 everywhere. I realised why I got better or why I ended up playing for the country. Because it was very, very flexible to bat anywhere,” Vijay cited his attributes as an all-rounder.