Vijay Shankar broke a franchise record on Sunday by playing for the Chennai Super Kings for the first time in almost 11 years.
In their first away game of the season, CSK traveled to Guwahati to play the Rajasthan Royals in their third IPL 2025 encounter. After winning his third consecutive toss, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad decided to field first.
Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran were replaced by Vijay Shankar and Jamie Overton in the visitors’ lineup. At the November auction, both players were purchased: Shankar for INR 1.2 crore and Overton, who was making his debut, for INR 1.5 crore.
Shankar has made two appearances for CSK, the first being against the Rajasthan Royals in May 2014. He bowled one over for 19 runs on his IPL debut before being dismissed by Shane Watson. During CSK’s run chase, he did not bat. He has since played for the Gujarat Titans, Delhi Capitals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the league.
His interval between CSK performances is 3,974 days, which is only a few months short of 11 years. This marks a new franchise record, surpassing the 3,591-day mark set by R Ashwin, who made his maiden appearance for CSK in nearly ten years precisely one week ago.
On the all-franchise record, Shankar comes in third place, behind Mandeep Singh (4,751 days between appearances for KKR) and Karn Sharma (5,093 days between appearances for RCB).
List of the longest intervals between an IPL team’s appearances
| Player | Team | From | To | Gap (days) |
| Karn Sharma | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 22 April 2009 | 2 April 2023 | 5,093 |
| Mandeep Singh | Kolkata Knight Riders | 29 March 2010 | 1 April 2023 | 4,751 |
| Vijay Shankar | Chennai Super Kings | 13 May 2014 | 30 March 2025 | 3,974 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Delhi Capitals | 30 May 2008 | 24 March 2019 | 3,950 |
| R Ashwin | Chennai Super Kings | 24 May 2015 | 23 March 2025 | 3,591 |
| Dale Steyn | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 24 April 2010 | 19 April 2019 | 3,282 |
| David Warner | Delhi Capitals | 19 May 2013 | 7 April 2022 | 3,245 |
| JP Duminy | Mumbai Indians | 25 April 2010 | 28 April 2018 | 2,925 |
| Shreyas Gopal | Mumbai Indians | 9 April 2016 | 11 April 2024 | 2,924 |
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