Allrounder Vijay Shankar has made a last-minute decision to move out of his home state Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season. Vijay, 34, has been granted a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA).
Vijay had turned out for the TNCA President's XI in the opening round of the pre-season Buchi Babu Tournament in Chennai against Himachal Pradesh but ESPNcricinfo has learnt that he decided to switch states, after he was left out of the second round against Maharashtra, in search of more consistent opportunities across formats.
In the 2024-25 domestic season, Vijay sat out Tamil Nadu's first two Ranji Trophy matches and also spent a chunk of the 20-overs Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on the bench.
This brings the curtains down on Vijay's 13-year stint with Tamil Nadu during which he had captained the state to the Vijay Hazare, Deodhar and Syed Mushtaq Ali titles. After making his Ranji Trophy debut in December 2012, he stepped into S Badrinath's shoes and led Tamil Nadu's middle order in the Ranji Trophy along with B Indrajith.
Vijay leaves Tamil Nadu with 3142 runs in 81 Ranji innings at an average of 44.25, including 11 centuries and 16 fifties. He also picked up 43 Ranji wickets with his medium-fast bowling, at an average of 53.93. His breakout Ranji season came in 2014-15, when he scored 577 runs in 11 innings at an average of 57.70. He then emerged on the India A radar and made India's 2019 ODI World Cup side as a wildcard.
More recently in the 2024-25 Ranji season, he hit a career-best 150 not out off 171 balls against Chandigarh in Tamil Nadu's 209-run win in Salem. At the TNPL, Vijay reinvented himself by bowling mystery spin, which he has honed by working with Varun Chakravarthy. He darted carrom balls and wrong'uns, variations which could now benefit his new team.
Vijay is the second senior player to move out of Tamil Nadu in recent times after his Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) captain B Aparajith switched to Kerala ahead of the 2024-25 season.
In place of Vijay, Tamil Nadu have a like-for-like replacement in RS Ambrish, who recently enjoyed success with both ball and bat with India Under-19s in England. Ambrish, 18, is an emerging finisher and can hit hard lengths with the ball. He was also reportedly called up to bowl to Ruturaj Gaikwad at the CSK academy in Chennai ahead of the Buchi Babu Tournament.
Tamil Nadu are facing a tough build-up to the start of the new season. While R Sai Kishore is recovering from a hand injury, fellow left-arm fingerspinner S Ajith Ram, who was the third-highest wicket-taker in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy, faces a longer spell out with injury.
Tamil Nadu have a new head coach this season, with M Senthilnathan, a former Ranji Trophy winner, taking over from L Balaji. T Kumaran, the former India and Tamil Nadu seamer, has been appointed bowling coach. After coaching in the USA, Kumaran has returned to his roots for the upcoming Indian domestic season.