Vijay Shankar has revealed that following Gary Kirsten's advice, there was a change in his batting and mindset in IPL 2023 and this proved to be the turning point for him. Shankar was included in the squad by GT for Rs 1.4 crore during the IPL 2022 mega-auction, but he played only 4 matches in that season and flopped miserably. Vijay Shankar had scored 19 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 54.29.
However, Shankar has a major role to play in the middle order for the franchise in the 2023 season, especially after Kane Williamson's injury and Hardik Pandya's poor form. He stepped forward by scoring 301 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 160.11. This also included a memorable unbeaten inning of 63 runs off 24 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Speaking to Sportstar, Shankar said, 'I used to bat for one and a half hours or more in the nets. I modified my bat lift and stance. It felt great because I worked for it and it happened. Gary Kirsten asked me to try something new. A week or 10 days before IPL 2023, he asked me to try different things and when I started hitting the ball really well, I started enjoying."
Speaking further, Vijay said, “Despite my season last year, GT retained me and gave me a chance to debut in 2023. That confidence in the team is very important. Even here (Vijay Hazare Trophy), some of us did not have a good first half, but the team (Tamil Nadu) still supported us and believed in our ability. That's why we were successful in performing well.''
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