Vijay Shankar had an impressive stint in the T20I series versus New Zealand with the bat, regardless of the outcome of his side, and proved to be more than trustworthy with the willow after burying the hatchet of the Nidihas Trophy final. Shankar also posted a crucial 40 odd runs while batting alongside Ambati Raydu in the final ODI, when India were in heaps of trouble at 18 for 4.

The towering all rounder has stated MS Dhoni as his long term idol, and tends to take most of the inspiration from him and how the wicket keeper batsman and has looked up to his ability of winning games for India over the years.

“For someone like me, I try and learn from watching each and every player we have in our team because everyone has done something in the past and they have won matches for the team especially Dhoni, who has done a lot for the team. I definitely look up to him,” Shankar was quoted saying.

“Every tour, every game is very important for me. In the matches that I have played in so far, I think I have reasonably done quite well but I could have done a lot better. It is a great learning for me. I am just looking to get better everyday,” he added.

“The most important thing for us is to be really consistent and adapt ourselves to different conditions and keep performing. I think this is the only thing which can keep pushing us. T20 is such a format where we need to be flexible, as batsman we need to know the situation and be aware of what is happening around. I look to be flexible and give my best to my team,” the 28-year-old said