Early Career
After leaving Bedford School, where he had played cricket for the school alongside Alastair Cook, following his A Levels in 2000, Shankar proceeded to read law at Cambridge University. It was for the university cricket club that he made his first-class debut against Middlesex in 2002. Shankar played first-class cricket for the university from 2002 to 2005, playing his final first-class match against Oxford University, while on occasion he captained the university. Shankar played 12 first-class matches for the University, scoring 384 runs at an average of 27.42. His one innings of note came against Oxford University in 2002, when he scored 143 runs from 297 balls, before being dismissed by Stephen Hawinkels. This was Shankar's only first-class century and was the only time he passed fifty. The bowling in the match was later described by Cambridge University coach Chris Scott as "unbelievably bad".
Shankar made his debut for Bedfordshire while still at Bedford School, making his debut against Norfolk in the 2000 Minor Counties Championship. Between 2000 and 2006, Shankar played infrequently for Bedfordshire, making 21 Minor Counties Championship appearances and 2 MCCA Knockout Trophy appearances, which came in 2006. It was for Bedfordshire that he made his List A debut for, against Sussex in the 2005 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy at Wardown Park. He was dismissed for 27 runs in this match by Jason Lewry, which was the second highest score in Bedfordshires' innings. During this period, he played Second XI cricket for the Middlesex Second XI, Worcestershire Second XI and Sussex Second XI, however his career was interrupted for 18 months when he suffered from glandular fever.
After representing the Lancashire Second XI in 2008, Shankar was given a two-year contract with Lancashire. Lancashire cricket coach, Mike Watkinson, stated "Adrian is a quality young batsman who fills a gap in our player development programme. He has attracted interest from a number of other counties which confirms his potential". While on the Lancashire staff, Shankar chose to study part-time for a two-year masters course in international relations, also at Cambridge. It fitted in with Shankar's ambition to play cricket for Lancashire as the course required that he only had to be in Cambridge for six weeks of the year. However, Shankar failed to impress and did not play for Lancashire's first team.
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