Vijay Shankar was a part of India’s 2019 ODI World Cup squad.
Notably, Shankar was drafted into the side at the expense of middle-order batter Ambati Rayudu, who was performing well leading up to the quadrennial event.
Then chief selector MSK Prasad had justified Vijay Shankar’s addition to the side, stating that the latter is three-dimensional player.
Since Shankar couldn’t live up to the expectations in the showpiece event, he was at the receiving end of online trolling and distasteful social media posts during that phase affected him as well.
"It was very difficult initially. It is very easy to say that you should just ignore those noises, but it is not possible. With social media around, you tend to read everything, it goes into your mind. Those days, I must say, made me stronger. I have seen things happening to MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and all the top players - people don’t even spare them," said Shankar in an interview with Sportstar.
"People appreciate them when things are going fine, but come hard at them in tough times. People who go through it know how difficult it is. I started thinking about what best I could do and not think about other stuff," he added.
During the 2019 World Cup, Vijay Shankar was hit on the left toe by a yorker from team-mate Jasprit Bumrah in the nets and suffered a non-displaced fracture. The injury cut short his participation in the marquee tournament, where India reached the semi-final before getting knocked out by New Zealand.
In three matches at the 2019 World Cup, Shankar registered scores of 15*, 29 and 14 besides claiming two wickets.