All-rounder Vijay Shankar upbeat about Tamil Nadu’s Ranji prospects

CHENNAI: The story of Tamil Nadu cricket and its love for the white-ball format is inextricable. With the state emphasising its focus on shorter formats in recent years, they will be hoping for a better turnaround this season than they had last year across formats starting from the ongoing Ranji Trophy.

After failing to qualify for knockouts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last year and reaching semi-finals in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the team will be looking to up its game a notch, keeping in mind the big tournaments that are coming this year.

“We played really well as a team last year; it’s just that we didn’t qualify. Sometimes it is important to concentrate on the team’s performance and do the right things needed moving forward,” said star all-rounder Vijay Shankar to DT Next, reflecting on Tamil Nadu’s performance last year in an interaction facilitated by Star Sports.

Tamil Nadu has produced many budding talents in white-ball cricket who went on to represent the Blues for a while now, with many players like Sai Sudharsan, who made his ODI debut in South Africa, and Sai Kishore, who made his T20I debut at the 2023 Asian Games. TN players are comfortable handling the white-ball format, especially the T20Is, after the growth of the TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League).

“TNPL is one of the main reasons for many talents to get opportunities at the big level and has helped all the youngsters who are now shining in white-ball format. Any big stage we go to, playing in the TNPL is still important for us to improve our game and get the best out of us as cricketers,” added Vijay.

Personally, Vijay had a great season last year after coming back from a shoulder injury to score three centuries in the Ranji Trophy and had a good IPL. He is looking forward to playing under a new captain for the Gujarat Giants this season, with Shubman Gill taking over the role of Hardik Pandya.

“Definitely, it will be interesting to see how he leads the side. But I have to focus on my job, which is to push myself in all three departments to make sure I give my best for the team,” said Vijay.

Despite not bowling in the matches, he still bowls in the nets every day to be prepared for any situation that arises. “You never know when the time comes,” said the 32-year-old who is enjoying the process and hopes that the things would fall in place at the right time.

Tamil Nadu faces Chandigarh in the fourth-round Ranji Trophy match on Friday. After defeating the Railways team in a dominant way, with Jagadeesan displaying a magical innings to score his double century, Vijay is looking forward to this game to help the team continue the winning momentum