Just three matches after Vijay Shankar joined the playing 11 after Shikhar Dhawan’s injury in India’s second match, to take care of the crucial No 4 spot, all-rounder Vijay Shankar was on Monday ruled out of the ongoing World Cup due to an aggravated toe injury he had sustained at nets on June 19.
The ICC has since approved Mayank Agarwal as replacement for the top order.
Agarwal had a great run in England with India’s A series under Rahul Dravid’s coaching but is yet to debut for ODIs. India A won the ODI tri-series involving England Lions and West Indies A with Mayank and Prithvi Shaw topping the batting charts.
“Vijay Shankar was struck on the left big toe whilst batting in the nets on June 19th in Southampton. He was able to play in an unrestricted manner in the following two matches against Afghanistan and West Indies. Following the match on June 27, the condition of his toe worsened and a CT scan showed he sustained a non-displaced fracture of the left big toe. The condition will require a minimum of three weeks to heal. The injury rules him out of the ongoing World Cup,” a BCCI statement said.
“The International Cricket Council has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC World Cup 2019 has approved Mayank Agarwal as a replacement player for Vijay Shankar in the India squad for the remainder of the tournament,” an ICC release said later in the day.
Shankar did not play in the match against England which India lost and the man in Rishabh Pant is now expected to take guard for the remaining two matches in the first round. It remains to be seen who walks in for India at the crucial No 4 start, what with KL Rahul opening till now. Rahul, too, had to undergo a scan for a stressed back after he fell awkwardly while fielding at long-on boundary in the match against England.
Assistant coach Bangar has spoken about the team looking at fresh combinations.