Pressure is more in speaking in Hindi, Vijay Shankar tells Yuzvendra Chahal post Nagpur win

Vijay Shankar’s opportunity to play at the highest stage came by chance as he was picked as the replacement for accomplished all-rounder Hardik Pandya in Australia after the latter was suspended because of a controversy. Since then, the batting all-rounder has made decent use of the opportunity and on Tuesday, he came out really well with an overall cricketing show to help India beat the Kangaroos by eight runs in the second ODI in Nagpur to take a 2-0 lead.

Vijay came out to bat at No.5 in the game instead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni when India were in a spot of bother losing 3 wickets for 75 runs. He counter-attacked and scored 46 off just 41 deliveries (five fours and one six) to put up 81 runs with captain Virat Kohli who hit a century for the fourth wicket to guide his side to a better position. An unfortunate run-out at the non-striker’s end saw Vijay’s promising innings coming to an abrupt end. The Tamil Nadu cricketer grabbed the headlines yet again in the last over by picking up two wickets and stopped the visitors a little short of the target of 251.

After the game, both Kohli, who was adjudged the man of the match, and Vijay appeared on Chahal TV which is hosted by India wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. There, Kohli praised Vijay both for his efforts with the bat and the ball saying the latter showed a lot of mental toughness by delivering in pressure moments.

‘Vijay showed a lot of character’

“I would like to give a special congratulation to Vijay. The way he batted and bowled the last over, it requires a lot of mental strength. He showed a lot of character,” Kohli told anchor Chahal, who is yet to get a game in the ODI series. The captain said while he was at the wicket with Vijay, he felt India could reach 275 though the hosts managed 250 at the end.

Chahal then went to Vijay continuing to ask his questions in Hindi. Seeing Vijay uncomfortable with Hindi, he asked: “Was the pressure more in bowling the final over or speaking Hindi now?” “To speak Hindi is a bit pressure,” came the reply from Vijay who was laughing over his own embarrassment. Kohli too burst out in laughter as Chahal pulled Vijay’s leg saying: “Look at the screen. Don’t feel shy”.

Men Of The Moment – Captain @imVkohli & ice cool @vijayshankar260 relive #TeamIndia's 500th ODI win in our latest episode of Chahal 📺 – by @28anand

P.S. Did Vijay continue the rest of his interview in Hindi with @yuzi_chahal? 😁😁

Full Video link here https://t.co/EG645crRXT pic.twitter.com/xyVFWCvN4A

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 6, 2019

India registered their 500th ODI win in Nagpur and became only the second team to achieve the feat after Australia (558 wins), they will take on the Kangaroos for the third match in Ranchi and it might be the final appearance for Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an international game at his home town.

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