Murali Vijay has really come of age. His batting performance, in the ongoing Test series against Australia, shows a remarkable improvement in his approach and temperament. He is not bound down by pressure, and if anything is taking all the time at the crease to make his knock count.
Krish Srikkanth, who was instrumental in picking Vijay as a Test opener, says the in-form batsman has improved his technique to get where he is today. And now that he has scored runs in England and Australia, the Tamil Nadu batsman has a great future with Team India in the days to come.
“I am very happy to see the way Vijay is batting today. He is positive and has shown great improvements in his temperament and technique. He takes a lot of time to wait for the loose deliveries before playing his shots,” Srikkanth comments.
As the former chairman of the selection committee, he is also impressed with Vijay’s judgement at the crease, which is getting better with time. “Look at the number of deliveries he is leaving right now. He waits for the bowlers to make mistakes and that is the right approach. He is never in a hurry,” Srikkanth said.
It’s true that Vijay is not as effective as the Australian Test captain Steven Smith, who has completed 2,000 Test runs within 25 Test matches, but Vijay is slowly getting there. In fact, Vijay took around 29 Tests to complete that feat. “By scoring runs against Australia in Australia, he must have grown more confident. He is the batting ace for India right at the top of the order and I am sure the best days are ahead of him,” Srikkanth added.
In 2008 when the selectors picked Vijay to replace Gautam Gambhir against Australia in a Nagpur Test match, he was raw and young. He had a decent start to his Test career and made 33 and 42 respectively for his team. Since then, he was in and out of the Test team because of the Delhi duo Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who were the choice openers.
But the moment, Vijay walked into the team in place of an out-of-form Gambhir, he has been clinging to the opening slot with some worthy shows with the bat. And if the Australian outing is anything to go by, Vijay isn’t going anywhere soon!
