Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar went unsold at the IPL 2026 Auction, failing to attract any bids despite his experience at the highest level. The Tamil Nadu cricketer, who has previously represented multiple franchises in the Indian Premier League, did not find takers as teams opted to focus on younger or more specialised options. Earlier, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, failed to attract any bids as both went unsold in the first round.
He played for Gujarat Titans team in Indian Premier League (IPL) from 2022 to 2024 and played for Chennai Super Kings team in 2025 in the same competition. Shankar was listed in the uncapped player list Shankar is eligible in this case as he has not represented India in any format since 2019. His last international appearance was vs West Indies in the 2019 ODI World Cup. He’s represented India in 12 ODIs and nine T20Is. The 34-year-old’s international debut was in a T20I vs Sri Lanka in 2018. So since he has not played for India for over six years, he can take part in the auction as an uncapped player. Under the new rule, even MS Dhoni falls in the uncapped player category as he too last played for India in 2019.
