I was mentally prepared to bowl the last over: Vijay Shankar

Vijay Shankar, who is currently playing as the only seaming all-rounder in India setup went for as many as 13 runs in his first over which eventually led skipper Virat Kohli to look to Kedar Jadhav for completing former's quota of overs, seeing the number of runs India had on board. However, for the last over, Kohli once again showed confidence in Shankar's ability and one will have to say, that he didn't disappoint at all and eventually led India to win the second ODI. 

"It was an opportunity to redeem myself after the expensive over I bowled. I was literally waiting for this opportunity, wanted to bowl under pressure because only if I deliver, will they trust me. I was up for the challenge. Around the 43rd over, I was telling myself that I am bowling the final over and defend the score, just prepared myself a bit," Shankar told in an interview with the broadcaster.

"I was preparing myself. I thought I should be mentally ready to go and bowl and defend 10 runs an over. I was just clear about what I have to do. I think those things helped me when I came onto bowl. I didn't have pressure, to be honest," he added.

Australian Team was on the driver's seat for almost 40 overs of the second innings, but then they continued to lost wickets in pair which build undue pressure on the men-in-yellow and eventually led them to get bowled out for 8 runs less than the target. Jasprit Bumrah, the star of Indian bowling line up came to him gave some pivotal tips. 

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"When Bumrah came and told me it's reversing a bit, just trust yourself to bowl the hard length. When a top bowler like him comes and tells me... bounce also was a little low than the normal wicket. To hit the right length was a challenge at that situation under pressure. The good thing is I was a little clear in the mind," Shankar said.

"It's about staying clear mentally. I wanted to just stick to the basics, hit the stumps from a hard length as there was a bit of reverse. When you play for the country, you have to be ready to do what the team needs. I always say to myself to keep working on all aspects of my game so that when the opportunity arrives, I am ready to grab it," Shankar said.

In the backdrop of a possible World Cup call-up, Shankar made his case with the bat too after walking in at No.5 ahead of MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav. By his own admission, Shankar has tried to remain a lot calmer and level-headed following the harrowing experience of the Nidahas Trophy final where he played out four dot balls in the 18th over of a tense chase - that Dinesh Karthik would go on to win in dramatic fashion. And it showed as he built India's innings from early trouble in the company of his captain.

Shankar showed a tendency for pinching singles on the up-and-down pitch, a trait often talked up by Kohli while speaking of the art of building ODI innings. The pair added 81 crucial runs before an unlucky run out ended Shankar's stay on a 41-ball 46.

"Batting with someone like him is always special. Batting in my second ODI, he was helping me with the few things. They were trying to hit the pads. Even when the spinners bowled, they tried to vary the speed. We were concentrating on turning the strike over. We wanted to score much straighter and give ourselves a chance to get a good score. That's a great thing I learn, batting with him helped me to up my intent. If I can bat with that intent every time, I can get better as a batsman every day. 

"I think I was someone who used to bat up the order. Due to different reasons, I started batting at 7 and that became a permanent slot for me. In India A series I batted No.5, I did pretty well there and that gave me the confidence. When I bat in the middle overs, I learnt that I should take my take my time, look to play as many singles as possible and get odd boundaries," he said

HIGHLIGHTS

• Vijay Shankar bowled the last over to help India win second ODI at Nagpur. 
• Virat Kohli was awarded as the man-of-the-match. 
• Rohit Sharma for the first time was out for a duck in Indian conditions.