Having listened to his former coach and returned to the UAE to continue his cricket, youngster Shivank Vijayakumar has set his sights on breaking into the senior national team this season.
The wicket-keeper enjoyed a strong UAE Under-19 career, and was the team’s top-scorer with 118 runs at last year's World Cup where he also accounted for 10 dismissals.
Having taken a year-long break from his studies before the tournament, Vijayakumar began his Chemical Engineering course at Canada’s Thompson Rivers University in December 2014, only to come back to the country in April after speaking with his Abu Dhabi-based MCC Zayed Academy coach Sandeep Dhuri.
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“I was very proud to represent the UAE at Under-19 level as it was a big honour for me,” said Vijayakumar.
“Studying in Canada was a great experience. I still played cricket with local clubs although I couldn’t play many matches since it was off-season.
“I remained in contact with my coach Sandeep Dhuri and he said I have a lot of talent and it was best to come back to the UAE and resume my cricket career and aim for the senior team as cricket’s a lot more popular here than in Canada.
“I was high on confidence having competed in the Under-19 level and knew where I stood in the international arena. I spoke to my parents and it didn’t take long to make a decision to come back.”
His cricket potential did not go unnoticed and was rewarded with a scholarship to study Engineering at Dubai’s University of Wollongong this year.
With Vijayakumar now considering four offers from Dubai cricket clubs, he insists this season is hugely important if the youngster is to stake his claim for a place in the senior set-up, beginning with the UAE’s ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Hong Kong in November.
“I know (UAE) coach Aaqib Javed pretty well and he has faith in me so hopefully I can do well and get into the next senior squad,” he said.
“I feel it’s more important to do well in the training sessions because he (Javed) gets to see how good I am. Domestic tournaments are very important and I want my scores to do the talking. I’ve worked hard on my fitness and have heard that Aaqib is ready to bring in new faces in the future and hopefully I can be one of them.”