Murali Vijay determined to stay

July 23, 2014 11:08 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:33 pm IST - Southampton:

Murali Vijay has served his and India's cause well by playing with purpose andpatience in the two Tests.

Murali Vijay has served his and India's cause well by playing with purpose andpatience in the two Tests.

There was a moment during the final day of the Lord’s Test that summed up Murali Vijay’s obsession with batting.

England was crawling in its second innings and much before Ishant Sharma unleashed his mayhem, the opener, placed at the outfield, settled into his batting stance and shadow-practised his defence.

There were a few seconds of introspective-stillness until he lapsed into his role as a fielder. It was in sync with Vijay’s cricketing persona so far in this series that has drawn admiration from David Gower and Rahul Dravid.

On air, the former spoke about his correct ways and the latter highlighted the certainty with which Vijay was leaving deliveries outside off-stump.

These are traits that have served him and India well. And it is not something that has cropped up suddenly. The signs were there in the last visit to South Africa. His 97 at Durban, constructed over 226 deliveries, showed that he could strike deep roots. In New Zealand too, though his returns were less, the desire to stay long was evident.

Openers’ credo

In England, he has taken it one-level up and scored 146, 52, 24 and 95 (247 balls) to emerge as India’s current highest run-getter in this Test series. He has lived up to the openers’ credo — negate the new ball and tire out the fast bowlers.

After his second-innings knock at Lord’s, Vijay said: “I just thought we have three-four attacking batsmen after me and I wanted to be there for the second new ball.” The man, who loves to bat big, wasn’t just keen on surviving the initial attack, he wanted to be there the whole day.

Vijay’s approach bore fruit and India could tide over his partner Shikhar Dhawan’s modest runs and also cope with the fact that Virat Kohli has not succeeded as yet on this tour. Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and the tail have bailed out India so far.

From stepping in as a replacement opener for either Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir, Vijay seems to have taken to owning the spot. And he is eager to hold on. “I waited for my chance, worked hard, believed that I will get my turn and when I got it, I just grabbed it,” he said.

Having made his Test debut in 2008, Vijay caught the eye and then faded out. Back then, he had his biffs with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

He merged style with sixes and it made for good television but that urgency lingered even when he was playing Tests. Subsequently, an opportunity to seal his berth while touring the West Indies in 2011, was frittered away.

He made his way back in 2013 with two massive home hundreds against Australia. It marked an emphatic return but questions hung around his competence overseas.

He allayed those fears too, first in South Africa and now at England. During the South Africa tour, Vijay said: “The first thing Sachin paaji told me was to try and get your own answers rather than going to other people. Because it will confuse you more.”

Finding answers

Over the last few months, Vijay seems to have found his answers. Hopefully, he will live in the present too.

In 2012, after he scored a double hundred in the Zal Irani Cup, former India opener W.V. Raman and current Tamil Nadu coach, wrote in Wisden India : “The key will be in not allowing the big double hundred to linger too long in his system.

“The reason I say this is because he has already paid a heavy price for letting the success of IPL and its methods stay in his memory longer than required.”

From the signs of it, Vijay is focused on the job, with all his senses alert when the bowler releases the delivery.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.