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‘3D Vijay Shankar is back’: GT star's heroics vs KKR reloads 2019 World Cup memories, Twitter turns into meme fest
Batting at a strike-rate of over 200, Vijay Shankar scored an unbeaten 51 off 24 balls, which featured two boundaries and five sixes.
Vijay Shankar went all guns as defending champions Gujarat Titans defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in the IPL 2023 clash at Eden Gardens on Saturday. Batting at a strike-rate of over 200, Shankar scored an unbeaten 51 off 24 balls, which featured two boundaries and five sixes.
He along with David Miller added 87 runs for the fourth wicket as Gujarat completed the 180-run chase with 13 balls to spare. Miller, as usual, played a powerful knock and returned unbeaten on 32 off 18 deliveries.
Shankar's heroics on the field triggered a meme fest on social media as many drew similarities between his controversial selection in the 2019 World Cup squad, with the showpiece event approaching and India struggling with injuries.
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Shankar's inclusion in the squad in place of Ambati Rayudu at the number four position was heavily debated, also forcing the latter to contemplate his future with Team India. MSK Prasad, the chief selector then had coined Shankar as a ‘3-D’ player, highlighting his potential in all the departments of the sport.
Now with the 2023 World Cup approaching and India once again jostling for the number four spot due to a back injury to Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant slowly recovering from the unfortunate road accident on the New Year Eve.
Here are a few reactions:
Shankar had made a similar impact in the previous fixture between the two sides, which saw Rinku Singh hogg all the limelight. He had then smashed an unbeaten 63 off 24 balls, which included four boundaries and five sixes. Despite his brilliance with the bat and Rashid Khan's hattrick, Kolkata chased down a staggering 205 with Rinku hitting five sixes in the final five deliveries of the run chase.
