For a long time, Vijay Shankar had his eyes fixed on the big screen from near the ropes. The TV umpire was reviewing a stumping decision against Shankar, who started walking off as soon as the bails were dislodged. It was later found that he had managed to get his leg behind the line in time. One moment, he was trudging off with his head down, convinced his evening had ended. The TV umpire’s verdict gave him a reprieve, and he sprinted back to the crease with renewed belief. From there, the momentum shifted dramatically as he launched a breathtaking counter-attack.
His first scoring shot was a sweep off Maheesh Theekshana. Coming in at number 7 with the required run rate skyrocketing, Shankar had no option but to take on the bowling.
There was no wild slogging. Shankar timed the ball beautifully and found the middle consistently. The highlight of his innings of 43 off 18 deliveries was the two sixes he struck off Mohammad Wasim Jr, the current Pakistan international. All three of his sixes were hit into the deep midwicket region. Shankar looked like a player in his zone, full of confidence and hungry for runs in that brief yet impactful innings.
Kandy Royals did make a mistake by promoting a bowling all-rounder like Wanindu Hasaranga ahead of Shankar. They paid the price by eventually losing the game by 18 runs. While Hasaranga did play a useful cameo, giving Shankar more balls in the middle could have produced a different result. It was not the start Kandy were looking for in the Lanka Premier League 2026, but for Shankar, it was a great start.
Even in the field, as one of the senior members of the team, he was stationed in key positions such as long-on and long-off. At long-on, he took a brilliant running catch to dismiss Dhananjaya Lakshan.
Earlier, he had also taken a catch off his teammate Shaheen Shah Afridi’s bowling at the start of the game. With the ball, however, Kandy captain Angelo Mathews did not use him at all.
Shankar looked in good shape, suggesting he has come well prepared for the ongoing LPL. The way he batted against the Sixers proved that there is still plenty of cricket left in him.
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