Murali Vijay deserves fair run in Indian Test side
Murali Vijay isn’t a batsman gift-wrapped with God-gifted talent, but he deserves a long rope in the Test side © PTI
Despite making mountains of runs against Australia, Murali Vijay continues to be heavily criticised in Indian cricketing circles. The home series against West Indies provides yet another opportunity for Vijay to silence his critics. Bharath Ramaraj explains why Vijay deserves a fair run in the Test side.
India is undoubtedly a cricket-obsessed nation. To watch a game of cricket, fans make a beeline for entry into the stadium. Even in offices, bus-stands or while travelling in a tuk-tuk, one is forced to listen to ‘expert’ analysis on the wonderful game. Cricket certainly rekindles the flames of passion in the country.
So, it isn’t surprising that in India, we see both extremes of a cricketer being turned into a demi-god or someone who is criticised heavily at every given opportunity. At present, Murali Vijay is the one who is at the receiving end of severe criticism. He seems the fall guy of Indian cricket.
Now, Vijay isn’t a batsman gift-wrapped with God-gifted talent. He himself would likely agree that he isn’t going to be the next great opener produced by India. However, the truth of the matter is, in the Test series he played against Australia, he made mountains of runs and deserves to be given a long rope the side.
Vijay’s critics opine that even if he does well in the Test series against the West Indies, he is bound to fail during the tour of South Africa, as he hasn’t set the world alight in a mere four Tests, he has played away from the subcontinent. But the flaw in that argument is believing a cricketer never makes any improvements to his game, over a period of time.
In recent times, Vijay has shown significant improvements in his batting. A case in point being in the final Test match of the series against Australia played at Delhi, with an unflappable temperament and exemplary technique, he stood up to Australia’s pace attack with aplomb on a treacherous track.
On a track with plenty of variable bounce in it, Vijay showcased the essence of building an innings was ingrained in his system. He presented a dead straight bat to Australian quickies and used the old maxim of knowing your off-stump and leaving the ball to great effect.
More importantly, with an initial little trigger movement, he was looking to come forward at every given opportunity. Vijay was rewarded for his warrior-like tenacity, as he made a fine fifty in the first innings of the Test match. In fact, in that series by notching up two hundreds, he was one of the cornerstones of India’s batting line-up.
In the ongoing Test match against the West Indies’s team played at Eden Gardens, if he shows the same kind of insatiable appetite for runs like he did against Australia, there is every chance that he can touch towering peaks against a modest West Indies’s bowling line-up too.
Yes, Tino Best and the debutant Sheldon Cottrell are in the quick bracket. Both Shane Shillingford and Veerasammy Permaul are competent enough spinners. Vijay might not have left an indelible mark in the first innings as he was stumped off Shillingford’s bowling. But Vijay shouldn’t find too many problems in handling West Indies’s bowling line-up during the rest of the series. The problem for him is that runs at home seem to be of no value for his detractors.
Moreover, it has to be said that to succeed in tough conditions of South Africa for a subcontinental batsman, it perhaps takes a few tours to come to grips with alien conditions. Barring a few exceptions, subcontinental batsmen generally tend to struggle on tracks having pace and steep bounce of South Africa.
Remember, a great technician like Rahul Dravid has struggled in South Africa. Even Sachin Tendulkar didn’t have a great time with the bat the first time he played in South Africa in 1992-93. So, to expect Vijay or any other inexperienced opener to succeed in South Africa is perhaps not fair.
One hopes that Vijay silences his critics for the time being by doing well in the Test series against the West Indies. Unfortunately for him, his detractors would always be waiting for an opportunity to criticise him.
(Bharath Ramaraj, an MBA in marketing, eats, drinks and sleeps cricket. He has played at school and college-level, and now channelises his passion for the game by writing about it)