JOIN USMurali Vijay ended his brief poor run with the bat with a calculated hundred that — along with Virat Kohli’s unbeaten ton — put India in the driver’s position against England in the fourth Test.
The right-handed opener, who was batting on 70 on Friday’s second day, went on to bring up his second century (136) of the series and his eighth in 45 Tests. After a bright start to the five-Test rubber in Rajkot, where he struck 126, Vijay had endured a lean patch of 31, 20, 3, 12 and zero before he stemmed it here on Saturday.
While the opener has been one of India’s most prolific batsmen since 2013, when he made his comeback to the Indian Test side against Australia, his consistency since the Sri Lankan tour in 2015 has been of some concern. Where Vijay scored 1230 runs in 14 Tests at an average of 45.55 between November 2013 and June 2015, he has managed a mere 581 runs (including the 136 on the day) in 11 Tests at a modest average of 32.27 from the Lankan series onwards.
The current series appears have been more productive for the Tamil Nadu batsman as more than half (328) of his 581 runs in the last 14 Tests spread over five series have come in the last seven innings.
“It is special,” he said when asked to rate his innings. “I started off well in this series and then a couple of matches I couldn't play the way I wanted to play. I was getting out too early. I just came out in a much more clear mindset in this game. And I just wanted to back my instinct and play,” he said.
While saying the eight-day break between Mohali and Mumbai was of great help for him to rethink and come back better, Vijay said he worked on the way he was handling the short-pitched stuff to which he has often fallen this series.
“I did think about it because I was playing the balls I should be leaving generally and there are lot of other factors to it. I don't want to reveal them but yeah the definite game-plan was to back my core game, believe in it and come back fresh and play in this Test match the way I wanted to play.”
Vijay hit 10 fours and three sixes during his knock of 136 and yet his strike rate was under 50 which indicated a specific strategy to his approach. “Actually my game-plan was to attack the spinners because I don't want them to settle in one particular area where they find it comfortable. I just wanted to use my feet and use the depth of the crease and play according to my game-plan. It came out pretty well I guess,” he analysed.
Vijay agreed India were firmly in control of the Test after having established a 51-run lead with still three wickets in hand. “Definitely yes, because any lead is gold on this wicket. During tea time we just thought of getting close to their total but the way Virat and Jayant Yadav are batting, I think we are in a pretty good position.”
DH News Service