Former Tamil Nadu star Vijay Shankar took a dig at the state’s selectors following his decision to move to Tripura. A couple of days ago, the all-rounder decided to move on from the team that he spent nearly 13 years with as a senior to Tripura ahead of the upcoming domestic season.
Shankar has now broken his silence on the move to the new team and has blamed the selectors for forcing him to do so.
Why did Vijay Shankar move from Tamil Nadu to Tripura?
As per The Hindu, Shankar cited lack of clarity and security as reasons for ditching Tamil Nadu for Tripura ahead of the 2025/26 season. The all-rounder explained that he couldn’t simply sit out of the playing XI and serve drinks to other players while pointing out that he was dropped multiple times in the previous season despite performing well. Shankar said that he took the decision after his coach M. Senthilnathan informed him of the selectors’ thoughts on the all-rounder.
‘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. Last year, I got dropped for the first two Ranji games, and then I made a comeback. In the SMAT, again, I was dropped for the last two games. So, after that, it was quite tough. But this year, I thought things would be fine since I did well last year. You need some clarity at some point. I was not getting that clarity,’ Shankar explained.
Vijay claimed that he never got a secure feeling about the selectors. He said that there was no point of staying in Tamil Nadu after his coach informed him about what the selectors thought about him. Further, Shankar pointed out that he had consistently batted at one position over the years to impress the selectors and had even scored three consecutive hundreds. However, the all-rounder opined that there was never a clear explanation from the selectors as to why he was dropped.
‘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,’ Shankar added.