Vijay Shankar took retirement and called himself a 3D cricketer, pain came to the fore; Know what is the whole story

Vijay Shankar Retires From Domestic Cricket And IPL: Indian cricketer Vijay Shankar On May 22, he shared an emotional message announcing his retirement from domestic cricket and IPL. In this, he said many important things while remembering his cricket career, struggles, achievements and the people who supported him. There are speculations that this 35-year-old all-rounder has said goodbye to domestic cricket to explore the possibilities of playing in foreign T20 leagues.

Vijay Shankar’s domestic career was very strong. He played most of his career for Tamil Nadu and captained the team to victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title Gave it. In the last phase of his career (2025-26 season), he was associated with Tripura team.

How was Vijay Shankar’s first-class and List A career?

Vijay Shankar scored 4,253 runs in 77 first-class matches at an impressive average of 46.74, which included 13 centuries. He also took 43 wickets during this period. In his last Ranji match, he played a match-winning inning of unbeaten 151 runs against Gujarat in February. At the same time, in 112 matches in List-A (LA), he has scored 2,790 runs at an average of 34.88 and has also taken 73 wickets.

What did Vijay Shankar say while taking retirement?

• Describing cricket as his life, Vijay Shankar said that he started playing cricket at the age of 10 and after 25 years, he considers himself lucky to play at every level of this game. He said that representing India will be one of the proudest and happiest moments of his life.
• Vijay Shankar has decided to retire from domestic cricket and IPL so that he can look for new opportunities and play more cricket. He said that he will always be grateful that he got the opportunity to do what he loves most.
• Vijay thanked BCCI and the Indian team and said that he got many lessons, memories and inspiration from here. He especially talked about always remembering his ODI debut in Nagpur and the moment of taking a wicket on the first ball in the 2019 World Cup.
• Vijay thanked his IPL teams GT, SRH, CSK and DC. He said that the experience and learning from these teams made him the player he is today.
• Thanking TNCA (Tamil Nadu Cricket Association), Vijay Shankar said that he spent most of his life there. The journey from Under-13 to the senior team was very special for him. He said that challenges and trophies made him a better cricketer.
• Vijay also thanked the Tripura team, which gave him a chance to live his dream for some more time. He also expressed gratitude to TNPL teams like CSG, IDTT and SS. Also, he described league teams like Indian Bank, ICF, India Cements and Tech Solutions as an important part of the beginning of his cricket journey.
• Vijay thanked everyone including the coach, support staff, physio, trainer, mental conditioning coach, groundsman, media, doctor and nutritionist. Regarding family and friends, he said that words cannot fully describe his contribution.

What did Vijay say on the pain and criticism?

Vijay Shankar said that he faced a lot of hatred and negativity in his career, but he decided to ignore it and move ahead. He appealed to the people to have positive thinking and work hard. In the end Vijay Shankar wrote- Cricket is my life. Your 3D cricketer, Vijay Shankar.”

Why is Vijay Shankar called 3-D player?

During the team announcement of the 2019 ODI World Cup, the then chief selector MSK Prasad had described Vijay Shankar as a ‘three-dimensional (3D)’ player. According to him, Shankar was an expert in all three departments of the game. He could bat solidly in the middle order, bowl useful medium pace when needed and was an excellent and agile outfielder. Since then, the tag of ‘Three-D’ was forever associated with his name in social media and cricket world.

When and in whose place was Vijay included in Team India?

Vijay Shankar was included in the team in place of experienced batsman Ambati Rayudu. Till a few months before the World Cup, captain Virat Kohli himself had considered Rayudu certain for the number-4 slot, but at the last moment the selectors dropped Rayudu and chose Vijay Shankar. In April 2019, he was included in the 15-member main Indian team for the ICC ODI World Cup 2019 as a substitute for the number-4 batsman.

What did Ambati Rayudu say on the selection of Vijay Shankar?

Disappointed by his sudden exclusion from the World Cup team, Ambati Rayudu had made a very sharp and historic post on social media, taking a dig at the chief selector’s ‘3-D’ statement. Rayudu had written- Just ordered a set of new 3D glasses to watch the World Cup.

This tweet became the most talked about turning point in Rayudu’s career. He directly mocked the decision of the selectors, due to which there was a lot of controversy. Later, despite injuries to other players during the tournament, Rayudu was not called as a replacement, due to which he was disappointed and announced his retirement. However, later both the players clarified that there was no personal discord between them.

How was Vijay Shankar’s international career?

Vijay Shankar got a chance to debut in 2018 after Hardik Pandya was out of the team. His international career lasted only for 2 years (2018-2019), but he became a part of the main team of the 2019 ODI World Cup. He scored 223 runs in 8 innings of 12 ODI matches and took 4 wickets. Taking a wicket on his very first ball in the match against Pakistan in the World Cup 2019 was the most memorable moment of his career. Apart from this, he won the match for India by defending 11 runs in the last over of Nagpur ODI (2019) against Australia. Not only this, this all-rounder scored 101 runs in 9 T20I matches and also took 5 wickets.

Vijay Shankar’s IPL career

Vijay Shankar’s IPL career was full of ups and downs. Vijay represented Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL. He played 78 matches in his IPL career, scoring 1,233 runs at an average of 26.23 and strike rate of 129.79. During this period he scored 7 half-centuries and also took 9 wickets.

When did Vijay debut in IPL?

Vijay made his debut for CSK in the year 2014. His best IPL season was with the year 2023 (Gujarat Titans), where he scored 301 runs at a strike rate of over 160. He again became a part of Chennai in IPL 2025 (where his highest score was 69 runs against Delhi), but he remained unsold in the recent auction held in December.