Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar, PVSM, AVSM (born 30 September 1949) is a retired Indian Navy Admiral who served as the CINCAN[1] and as the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Armed Forces. His prior commands included that as the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet (FOCWF). He also served as the Commanding Officer of INS Viraat (R22), INS Ganga (F22), INS Himgiri (F34), and INS Panaji (1960).
- A late bloomer by Indian standards, Vijay Shankar has turned out to be a consistent performer for Tamil Nadu across all formats of the game. A highly rated middle-order batsman, he is a more than useful medium-pacer as well, a skill that has earned him a place in the Indian national team.
- Vijay Shankar hails from a family of cricketers. His father and brother Ajay have played lower division cricket for Tamil Nadu. His career has seen several disruptions due to injury. Vijay has carved a niche for himself in Tamil Nadu's middle-order, particularly after the exit of long-serving batsman Subramanium Badrinath.
- He made his debut as a first-class cricketer in 2012, and it took him two years to stamp his authority at the first-class level. In the 2014-15 Ranji season, Vijay came into the selectors' reckoning with two Man of the Match awards. In the knockouts that year, he made scores of 111, 82, 91, and 103. These stellar performances weren't unnoticed as he was selected for the India 'A' team soon.
- Genuine all-rounders are a rare commodity in Indian cricket, and Vijay Shankar's solidity with the bat and usefulness with the ball earned him a place in the national team for the Nidhas Trophy featuring Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In his debut tournament, he was named Man of the Match on the league stage for his bowling.