Just a year ago, there were calls to drop Vijay Shankar from the Gujarat Titans playing XI.Well, the fans were not wrong in venting out their anger on the all-rounder, as he had a forgettable run last year.
Shankar amassed just 19 runs in 4 matches in IPL 2022, with his highest score being 13. No wonder why he was dropped after that.
But the IPL defending champions didn't let their faith in him fade away and retained Shankar for another season. And the all-rounder from Tamil Nadu walked the talk.
It was a leap of faith for the Titans when they decided to send Shankar before trusted heavy hitters David Miller and Rahul Tewatia against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.
Shankar didn't let the GT management down and blasted an unbeaten 63 off just 24 balls, which included 5 massive sixes and four 4s. He walked in with Gujarat on 118/3 in 13.3 overs and powered his side to a massive 204/4.
Interestingly. his 21-ball half-century was the fastest fifty by a GT batter in IPL history.A contrasting IPL campaign for Vijay Shankar comes off after an impressive run in the domestic circuit in the past year.
Gujarat would hope that he can continue with his top form with the bat as it may just be the push that GT needs to defend their IPL crown.
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