India vs England: Murali Vijay has to rediscover form to continue as first-choice Test opener

India vs England: Murali Vijay has to rediscover form to continue as first-choice Test opener

Umang Pabari December 6, 2016, 13:49:15 IST

The next few days will be a stern test of Murali Vijay’s character and will decide his future as an Indian opening batsman.

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India vs England: Murali Vijay has to rediscover form to continue as first-choice Test opener

After Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, if there is one opener who has been dependable for India in Test cricket, it is Murali Vijay. Shikhar Dhawan, to a certain extent, has done as well, but he has not been as successful as Vijay, especially overseas.

While Vijay may not have the prowess to provide a quick start or the artistry, like Rahul Dravid, to play on bowlers’ patience for a long period of time, he has his own style of batting – a mix of patience and aggression. This is a key attribute for any batsman who wants to make a mark in Test cricket, especially in this epoch of Twenty20 cricket. But, elegance has always been the hallmark of  Vijay’s batting. When India looked beyond Sehwag and Gambhir, it was Vijay who stood up, scoring 402 runs from five Tests against England in 2014, and became the highest Indian run-getter in that series.

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The start of Murali Vijay’s Test career was not momentous as this year, but in between 2013 and 2015, he found his mojo in Test cricket, and became India’s most prolific batsman by performing consistently in all conditions. But over the last one year or so, Vijay has been tussling for form. It began during India’s tour of West Indies, where he made only seven runs in one innings. When an Indian player performs well overseas, people back in India rate him above average, and this is undoubtedly the case with Murali Vijay at the moment.

In 2016, he has scored 385 runs from 13 innings, which is the second lowest among all Indian batsmen who have batted in minimum 12 innings this year. He has not justified himself with his Test performances this year, but it is not raising any questions because India is winning comfortably at home.

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Apart from his century against England at Rajkot on a decent batting track, he has not scored more than 80 runs in an innings in this year. He looked good in the first Test against New Zealand at Kanpur, but couldn’t sustain it in the next two Tests, just like in the ongoing series against England. After performing well in the first Test at Rajkot, he scored just 65 runs in the next five innings.

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This year has seen Indian openers get injured frequently. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul’s injuries, Gautam Gambhir’s less than effective comeback, and other Indian players’ splendid performances may have hidden Vijay’s failure, but he needs to start scoring runs consistently, otherwise he may face the axe. It may seem highly unlikely this season, considering India are playing at home, so there is a chance for Vijay to augment his numbers.

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Murali Vijay’s 385 runs as an opener this year is the second lowest among all openers who have played minimum. Of the 12 openers with at least 350 runs during this year, Vijay’s average is the fourth lowest. Only Alex Hales, Martin Guptill and Kaushal Silva are behind him in that list. He has played 13 innings this year as an opener, but Stephen Cook and Azhar Ali – who have batted in fewer innings – have a better tally of runs and average. Kraigg Brathwaite has played the same number of innings as Vijay, but his average of 59.20 is the second best in the list.

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An opener’s job should be of playing long and effective knocks and Murali Vijay has been known for that throughout his career. During his purple patch between 2013 and 2015, he faced 96.49 balls per innings on an average, which was the most by any Indian batsman during that period. Cheteshwar Pujara was second in that list, facing approximately 81.76 balls per innings. On the contrary, in 2016, Vijay faced 71.85 balls per innings which is the lowest among Indian batsmen who have faced minimum 800 balls this year. Ravichandran Ashwin has faced more balls (93.25 on an average) than Vijay in Tests this year. This is as good a indication of Vijay’s batting slump as any.

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During Vijay’s successful run, he was solid against both styles of bowling. He averaged almost 45 against right-arm bowlers and almost 60 against left-arm bowlers. His run-rate of 2.73 against right-arm bowlers and 3.07 against left-arm bowlers during that phase was also decent for an opener. In this year, his average against right-arm bowlers has gone to 23.45 from 44.53 (between 2013 and 2015.) His average against left-arm bowlers have been accrued but his run rate against both types of bowling has fallen.

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With India leading England by 2-0, the onus will be on Murali Vijay to score big runs for India. If Vijay fails in the next two Tests, then Indian selectors will have to take a call on his future, considering India play Australia next and since both KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan might play in the ODI series against England as openers. The next few days will be a stern test of Murali Vijay’s character and will decide his future as an Indian opening batsman.

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