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Most Matches Missed Between Appearances: Vijay Shankar Breaks R Ashwin’s CSK Record

Bhargav Dixit

MS Dhoni and Vijay Shankar chat. [Source: @ChennaiIPL/X]MS Dhoni and Vijay Shankar chat. [Source: @ChennaiIPL/X]

Nearly 11 years after making his Indian Premier League debut, all-rounder Vijay Shankar is back for a second stint at Chennai Super Kings. Bought for INR 1.2 crore during IPL 2025 auction last year, Shankar has been handed an opportunity against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.

Expected to be part of CSK’s Playing XI for their third match of the season, Shankar has replaced Deepak Hooda, who scored 7 (14) at a strike rate of 50 across two innings. Shankar, who last represented India during ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, is into his 10th IPL season – second for Chennai.

Vijay Shankar Surpasses R Ashwin In Rare Record

Much like Shankar, veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is another local player to have kick-started a second stint with Super Kings earlier this month. Ashwin, who last played for CSK in 2015, got a chance to ply his trade for them again after missing a total of 107 matches.

Shankar, on the other hand, missed as many as 138 games for this franchise before playing at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium tonight. Interesting, his maiden appearance for Chennai had also come against Rajasthan.

In what wasn’t a memorable IPL debut, the right-arm bowler had leaked 19 runs in the only over that he bowled. With Ashwin and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja promoted to bat ahead of him, Shankar didn’t get to bat back then.

Other than Ashwin and Jadeja, former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was another player to be part of Chennai’s Playing XIs for both matches. Played in Ranchi, Super Kings had chased down a 149-run target with five wickets and two balls to spare.

Most Matches Missed Between T20 Appearances For One Team

Notably, Royal Challengers Bengaluru spinner Karn Sharma (225) held the record for most matches missed between appearances for the same IPL team until last season.

However, as recent as Friday, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar surpassed him by playing for the same franchise after missing a record T20 total of 238 matches. In terms of time span, Bhuvneshwar not playing for RCB for 15 years and 162 days between appearances is another record in the format.