Vijay Shankar retires from domestic cricket and IPL

Vijay, who debuted for his home state of Tamil Nadu back in 2012, featured for them for 13 years before making a late switch to Tripura for the 2025-26 season. Vijay also played all of his age-group cricket, starting from U13 with Tamil Nadu. He finishes with 77 first-class games to his name, with 4253 runs and 43 wickets. Vijay also played 112 List A fixtures (2790 runs & 73 wickets) and 159 T20s (2583 runs & 38 wickets).

Vijay's IPL stint started in 2013 with CSK where he played just one game the following year. His next outings in the league came in 2017 in SRH colours where he played four matches. He was consistently involved with DC in 2018 (212 runs & 1 wicket) and back at SRH for the following three seasons in 2019, 2020 and 2021. He was then with Gujarat Titans in their title-winning season of 2022 but played just four games. His best season with the bat came in 2023, when he scored 301 runs at a strike rate of 160.10. He earned a homecoming to CSK in 2025, but an underwhelming season meant he didn't have any takers at the following auction.

Vijay also earned India call-ups, playing 12 ODIs and 9 T20Is in 2018-19. This included a selection at the ODI World Cup 2019 where he was picked to essay the crucial role of the No.4 batter who could also chip in with handy medium pace and some swing in English conditions. He played in just three matches in the tournament before an injury in the nets ruled him out, but he still came away with a memory for life - Vijay replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar midway through an over against Pakistan and dismissed Imam Ul Haq on what was his first ball at the mega tournament.

"Thankful to BCCI and the Indian Cricket Team - many learnings, countless memories and various inspirations! Representing the country will be my highest badge of honour. Bowling the last over at India's 500th ODI at Nagpur and my first ball first wicket at the 2019 world cup are moments I will hold onto forever," he wrote.

The Nagpur ODI he talks about is where he defended 11 runs off the final over against Australia to earn the Indian team its 500th ODI victory. Vijay thanked all his coaches, teammates and the teams from club cricket onwards in a lengthy message before calling out the hate he had recently received online.

"I have faced unreal hate and negativity. Let me take this opportunity to let you know that I chose to ignore and move forward. If I can do that, anyone can! Think positive and work hard. Cricket has taught me life. Cricket is my life," Vijay wrote.

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