Swapnil Singh, the former Uttar Pradesh player, who also featured for Baroda, featured in Tripura for the game against Karnataka during the 2025/26 season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT). At the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the all-rounder played a sensational knock of his maiden century and came up with a fantastic celebration.

In the previous four rounds of the tournament, Swapnil Singh managed only 40 runs in four innings at the best score of undefeated 30 runs against Madhya Pradesh a few days ago. His List-A average of around 25 was decent with the bat, but there was a need to prove his skills, having already played for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) previously in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

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Swapnil celebrated his century in a controversial way as the video goes viral around the social media platforms. He sat on his haunches and used the bat like a sword in a dark manner. With the 100-run knock, he now has 1327 runs in 61 innings of the domestic 50-over format at an average of more than 25 and a strike rate of 82.78 with the help of six fifties and one century at the best score of 100.

Swapnil Singh celebrates maiden VHT century in controversial manner

In the first innings of the encounter, Karnataka posted a massive score of 332 for the lose of seven wickets in their allotted 50 overs with their opening batter, Devdutt Padikkal, cracking up a fine knock of 108 runs, with the help of eight boundaries and three sixes. Smaran Ravichandran and Abhinav Manohar also recorded their respective half-centuries in the innings.

Watch the video here: 

CELEBRATION GOES DARK 😄

Swapnil Singh's Celebration after hitting his maiden Hundred in the Vijay Hazare Trophy... 😅 pic.twitter.com/PT1s6u0RPD

— 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗰Celeb (@Jara_1319) January 3, 2026

In reply, Tripura didn’t get a great start in the chase from their top order before Rajat Dey stabled them with 66 runs. But Swapnil firing knock of 100 runs in 93 balls, decorated with seven fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 107.53, came at number seven. Despite that, they were bundled out for 252 and lost the contest by 80 runs.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 332/7 (Devdutt Padikkal 108, Abhinav Manohar 79, Abhijit K Sarkar 4/50) beat Tripura 252 (Swapnil Singh 100, Rajat Dey 66, Shreyas Gopal 3/33) by 80 runs.

After Hanuma Vihari, another Indian international, Vijay Shankar, is prepared to represent Tripura for the upcoming season. After a 13-year-long stint with Tamil Nadu, Shankar's likely switch will be marked as a significant move in Indian domestic cricket. The all-rounder reportedly received the much-needed no objection certificate from the Tamil Nadu cricket board but is yet to announce his shift officially.

Tripura will be a part of crucial domestic competitions like the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where Hanuma Vihari is expected to lead the side as the captain. While talking with Cricbuzz, Shankar informed, "I have obtained the NOC from TNCA (Tamil Nadu Cricket Association) but am yet to receive confirmation from the Tripura Cricket Association. I will be able to officially announce my switch once I get the formal approval letter from Tripura." 

During the 2014-15 season, when Tamil Nadu cricket was going through a transition phase, Vijay Shankar appeared as a serious talent. In that season, the pace bowling all-rounder finished the campaign with 577 runs at 57.70, including 111, 82, 91, and 103-run innings in the knockout phase. In 70 First Class games, Shankar gathered 3702 runs at an average of 45.14. And in List A cricket, the all-rounder amassed 2632 runs in 106 matches at an average of 35.09. 

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Shankar's career stats in brief 

For India, he appeared in 9 T20Is and 12 ODIs, including the famous World Cup game against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 2019. More than his bowling part, Shankar was instrumental for Men in Blue with his batting, especially in ODIs. In those 12 matches, he got 223 runs in total and 31.85, while his T20I batting average stands at 25.25.

On the other side, Vihari already announced his switch to Tripura formally. Through a social media post on Tuesday, he publicly said, "After thoughtful consideration, I have made the decision to move to the Tripura Cricket Association, where I will be representing the state in all three formats of the game."