ICC Approves Mayank Agarwal as Injured Vijay Shankar’s Replacement

In a blow to Team India, all-rounder Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the World Cup.

In a blow to the Indian team going into the business end, all-rounder Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the World Cup with a toe injury.

(Photo: AP)

All-rounder Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the ongoing World Cup due to a toe injury and the ICC has cleared India’s request to call Mayank Agarwal as his replacement.

In an official statement, BCCI confirmed that Shankar’s injury was one to the left big toe that he suffered 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 but after the match on 27 June, his condition worsened and a CT scan showed he sustained a non-displaced fracture of the left big toe.

Shankar’s injury requires a minimum of three weeks to heal and therefore has ruled him out of the tournament.

Shankar is the second Indian player to be ruled out after Shikhar Dhawan exited due to a thumb fracture. Rishabh Pant had replaced him.   

Karnataka opener Agarwal, who made his Test debut against Australia last year, is yet to play an ODI. It has been learnt that his performance in England during the last A series under Rahul Dravid's coaching has been factored in while deciding his name.

India A won the ODI tri-series involving England Lions and West Indies A with Mayank and Prithvi Shaw topping the batting charts.

"The Indian team management asked for Mayank Agarwal as replacement since he is an opener and also it might give KL Rahul a chance to get back to the No.4 position in case Rishabh Pant fails in the next two games," a BCCI source said.

India skipper Virat Kohli had informed at the toss during the England game on Sunday that the all-rounder had a toe niggle and the signs weren't too good.

"Vijay Shankar has a toe niggle, Rishabh Pant is in. He brings in a lot of fearlessness. Once he gets to 20, then he's unstoppable," Kohli had said.

In fact, speaking on the eve of the England game, Kohli had praised Shankar and said: "So you can't really sit down and pinpoint things. But I personally felt that he (Shankar) looked really solid. There's not much that needs to be tinkered with. Sometimes in cricket you just need a bit of luck to get over from 30 to 60, and then you play a defining knock for the team. He's very close to that, and we're very confident that he's going to end up playing that kind of knock for us."

Shankar scored 29 against Afghanistan and 16 against West Indies before getting out. He also got a couple of important wickets against Pakistan. India lost their previous match to England by 31 runs in Birmingham on 30 June and will take on Bangladesh at the same venue on 2 July.