Can't sit out and give water: Frustrated Vijay Shankar opens up on Tamil Nadu exit

Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar has finally broken the silence about the reason behind parting ways with his home state, Tamil Nadu, and joining Tripura ahead of the upcoming domestic season. The batting all-rounder, who has been one of the key players since 2012, said that it was getting frustrating for him to warm the bench and repeatedly get sidelined by the selectors despite consistent performances. The 34-year-old has received his No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and has decided to start a fresh chapter in his professional cricketing journey.

Shankar revealed that the constant lack of clarity from the selectors and being dropped on multiple occasions finally prompted him to make the massive decision.

“Sometimes, when you’re forced to take that call, you need to move on and look out for opportunities. I think I’ve been playing well. And more importantly, I want to play cricket, that’s it. I can’t go out there and just sit out and give water. It’s quite difficult after playing for so many years,” Shankar told The Hindu.

He further added that the constant chopping and changing over the years made things extremely challenging for him. Recently, he was left out of the TNCA President’s XI for the last two of the three group-stage matches in the ongoing Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai, which further added to his frustration.

“Last year, I got dropped for the first two Ranji games, and then I made a comeback. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, again, I was dropped for the last two games. So, after that, it was quite tough. You need some clarity at some point. I was not getting that clarity," he added.

Lack of security from state selectors prompted my decision: Shankar

Shankar, who scored 3,142 runs from 81 Ranji innings at an average of 44.25, admitted that he never felt secure in the setup and constantly had to prove himself despite his experience and performance. He has also led the team to three domestic title wins during his stint.

“I never got any secure feeling when it comes to the selectors. So, at one point, I decided I needed to take a call. And I was happy that at least our coach (M. Senthilnathan) came up and told what they (the selectors) were thinking. So, I felt that there was no point staying. And trying to still fight it out to play in this setup was quite difficult,” he exclaimed.

The all-rounder, who will now play alongside Hanuma Vihari in Tripura, also highlighted how the lack of a fixed batting position affected him over the past few years, eventually prompting him to take the step forward.

“Even if you take the last three years, I think only in 2022 I batted at one batting position, I batted at No. 6 every game and I got three consecutive hundreds. But after that, from No. 3 to No. 7, I batted everywhere. So, there’s no explanation to this (why he’s being sidelined). But I can say that all these things have made me a better cricketer today. It made me really tough. I was always in a position where I had to keep performing to prove things wrong,” he explained.

Shankar, in the 2024-25 Ranji season, hit a career-best 150 not out off 171 balls against Chandigarh in Tamil Nadu's magnificent 209-run win.