Table of Contents
Vijay Shankar, who retired from the India National Cricket Team to explore the franchise league market across the globe, found himself on a rather dark side of the game. Shankar's career, including his national and domestic stints, took a major hit only because of a single over in the 2026 Lanka Premier League (LPL 2026).
In one of the matches of the Sri Lankan franchise league, Vijay Shankar required to score 22 runs to win the match, but he failed to score any runs in the first five balls of the penultimate over and was eventually dismissed on the final ball of the over, which led to his team's defeat.
Kandy Royals needed to score 22 runs to win the match
Winning and losing are parts of the game, but the modern era of cricket can be brutal for a professional cricketer because of the social media trials. The former Indian cricketer, who has decades of experience in professional cricket, had to confront a career-threatening media trail, which he had never faced before and had never imagined facing for the rest of his career.
In the first week of August this year, Kandy Royals needed to score required to score 22 runs in the 20th over of the match during their 222-run chase against the Jaffa Kings.
Vijay Shankar was on the striker's end with the last man of the batting order, Nuwan Thushar, at the opposite end of the crease. The responsibility was completely on the former Indian cricketer to take the team to the finish line.
Vijay Shankar explains the 'career-threatening' incident in LPL
The match ended in a thriller with Dilshan Madushanka delivering a maiden wicket over. Shankar remained on strike without scoring a single run in the over. Because of the maiden wicket over and the defeat, a portion of the cricket fans on social media platforms lashed out at Shankar.
"For me, what is painful is that many people's careers have ended because of things like this. So, this is actually a career-threatening issue. I came out of it. But even if I came out, where can I go?" Shankar said, in an interaction with Ashwin on the latter's YouTube channel, as quoted by Sportskeeda.
"The situation was such that when I went in, the game was almost done. We needed 22 runs in an over. I was batting with the tailenders and could not give strike to them. I was trying to hit. There were two chances to take doubles, but if we got run out, it would be a waste. I also thought about net run rate and tried to take it close. This is exactly what happened," he added.
It was definitely a bit hard for me: Vijay Shankar
He further expressed that he went to LPL to play cricket to become a better cricketer. But those kinds of experiences only made the situation harsh for him, casting uncertainty over his cricket career.
"It was definitely a bit hard for me. When people talk without knowing the situation, it is tough. I have come to these leagues to play cricket and become a better cricketer. So when things like this come out, it might affect the growth of my cricketing career," he said.
"I had such thoughts like, when I go to another tournament, what will they think of me, or how will they look at me? Vijay Shankar raised the question in the interview.
