Shankar tipped to board SA flight

Nagpur, Nov. 23: Hardik Pandya is India’s firstchoice seam bowling allrounder and the team management is looking at young Vijay Shankar as a back- up all- rounder with same skill sets for tough overseas assignments, skipper Virat Kohli said.

With Pandya being rested for the Sri Lanka Test series, Shankar was called as replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the second match but Kohli dropped hints that the 26year- old may be a contender for a slot in the national team for the South African tour, early next year.

“Well, he ( Shankar) has been very consistent and has earned his spot. We wanted to have a look at another allrounder keeping in mind this aspect ( batsman who bowls medium pace) of the team going forward,” Kohli said when asked about his take on the TN cricketer.

“Obviously, Hardik is in our scheme of things as first all rounder but we need to find out more people with that kind of ability whom we can groom and make as back ups for the allrounder’s spot when we travel abroad.”

T h e skipper made it clear that he wants Shankar to get a feel of the Indian team’s set- up and know what he needs to do to become a top notch international player. “The whole mindset of bringing him and keeping him in the setup is to make him familiar with what’s going on here and so that he understands what all he needs to work on his game as well,” the captain said.

He may not have seen Shankar in match situations beyond a few IPL games but he seemed impressed with his batting ability during the net session and is confident that he can slip in 10- 12 overs as the fifth bowler.

“He is a pretty composed, great fielder, handy with the ball and can easily can give you 10- 12 overs a day,” he added.