All-rounder Vijay Shankar has, rather quietly, asked for and received an NOC from the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, ending a 13-year senior stint with his home state just weeks before the domestic calendar starts. The 34-year-old wants what he calls “proper game-time across all formats”, and believes that will be easier to find elsewhere.
“I’ve loved every minute with Tamil Nadu, but I do feel a change will help me play more consistently,” he wrote in a short note to the association on Monday.
Key numbers first. Since debuting in December 2012, Shankar has piled up 3,142 Ranji Trophy runs at 44.25, with 11 hundreds, and taken 43 wickets with his medium-pace. His best season remains 2014-15 (577 runs at 57.70), the one that put him on India A’s radar and, eventually, into India’s 2019 World Cup squad. Last season he produced a career-best 150 not out against Chandigarh, showing there is still fuel in the tank.
Why move now? He sat out Tamil Nadu’s first two Ranji matches in 2024-25 and spent long spells on the bench in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Having opened this month’s Buchi Babu tournament for the TNCA President’s XI, he was left out of the very next game. That, friends say, convinced him his role would again be bit-part.
The association has taken the decision in its stride. “We respect Vijay’s wishes and thank him for years of service,” TNCA secretary R I Palani said. “Nobody here questions his commitment; it’s purely a cricketing call on both sides.”
Tamil Nadu do have a like-for-like replacement lined up. Eighteen-year-old RS Ambrish, fresh off an impressive India Under-19 tour of England, is expected to slot into the middle order and send down his hard-length seamers. “I’m not here to fill anyone’s boots,” Ambrish told local reporters. “If I can learn quickly and contribute, that’s enough for me.”
The broader picture is less rosy for Tamil Nadu. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore is still nursing a hand injury, while fellow fingerspinner S Ajith Ram (third-highest wicket-taker in last season’s Ranji) faces a longer rehabilitation. Add B Aparajith’s move to Kerala earlier in the year, and the squad suddenly looks thin on experienced heads.
New head coach M Senthilnathan, a former Ranji winner, and bowling coach T Kumaran have plenty on their plate. Kumaran, fresh back from a coaching stint in the USA, put it bluntly: “We’ll need to fast-track some youngsters. That’s reality, not crisis.”
There is at least the intrigue of Shankar’s recent reinvention. During the last TNPL he dabbled in mystery spin—carrom balls and wrong’uns helped along by Varun Chakravarthy’s guidance. Whether his new state pushes that experiment or parks it remains to be seen, but senior domestic watchers feel the variation could lengthen his career.
Where does he land? Officials from two Elite-group associations confirm sounding him out, yet nothing has been signed. The most likely destination, whispers suggest, is a side that sees him as a first-choice white-ball player who can still add depth in four-day cricket.
For now, all that is certain is the door has closed in Chennai. Shankar bows out with three state titles—Vijay Hazare, Deodhar and Syed Mushtaq Ali—and the quiet respect of team-mates he often led without fuss.
“It’s never easy to leave home,” he admitted, “but cricket keeps moving. So must I.”
