India off-spinner R Ashwin believes that injuries have hampered Vijay Shankar's stint in the domestic circuit with Tamil Nadu, and added that Tamil Nadu Cricket needs to find a role for all the senior players who have been the backbone of the team for several years. Shankar has often been critical about his role in the Tamil Nadu team, as he has said he is not been given a lot of opportunities to bat at top of the order.
Ashwin believes that while Shankar has struggled with injuries, his experience can be useful to the Tamil Nadu team and the management needs to find a role for him that fits.
“Vijay Shankar has definitely struggled, but he will find a solution and can get his injuries sorted. B Indrajith, B Aparajith, and Vijay Shankar have been the backbone of Tamil Nadu cricket for a while (5 -8 years), but there are a lot of promising youngsters also coming through. It’s a matter of managing roles and giving seniors the right role,” Ashwin told The New Indian Express.
"Even in the India team, there is constant change in players (senior) in the team and new players come in. You need to strike a balance. Vijay is a fine player who has played in the World Cup and has a lot of experience. He has had a lot of injuries and there is no better person to understand it (injuries) better than me. Sometimes people are not sensitive to injury,” Ashwin added.
{{/usCountry}}"Even in the India team, there is constant change in players (senior) in the team and new players come in. You need to strike a balance. Vijay is a fine player who has played in the World Cup and has a lot of experience. He has had a lot of injuries and there is no better person to understand it (injuries) better than me. Sometimes people are not sensitive to injury,” Ashwin added.
{{/usCountry}}“It doesn't become easy to manage injuries as you grow old. Vijay is about 30-31 years old and managing injuries when you get older is harder. So, I think we must give the right roles and we must balance it with youngsters coming in and seniors. We should look for a way forward, utilise Vijay Shankar’s experience, and also blend it with the youngsters. It will be good for TN cricket if we strike a good balance and give more opportunities for youngsters,” he signed off.