India vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test: Playing For India is Difficult, Says Centurion Murali Vijay - JPKee.com

New Delhi: If any fears prevailed over the condition of M Vijay’s wrists, they were allayed in Nagpur on Saturday (November 25). Having watched the opening Test in Kolkata from the comforts of the dressing room, the one-time No. 1 opener sealed his comeback to the Test side with his 10th century. By the time his top-edged sweep ended up with the short fine-leg fielder, he had scored 128 off 221 balls, the last 102 of those runs coming in just 135 balls. Lazy elegance is a word constantly associated with the Tamil Nadu opener, but that moniker is often misleading: there was nothing lazy about him today.

The scorecard might suggest an easy ride for India – Sri Lanka bowled 90 overs on the day, and had just one wicket to show for it, having conceded 301 runs. But, especially in the first session and parts of the second, it was a grind. Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, with whom he has now posted four consecutive 100-run partnerships, needed patience, grit, and mostly, concentration to see through these periods. In fact, Sri Lanka’s frontline bowlers – Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage and Rangana Herath – were all initially difficult to score against, bowling with accuracy and persistence. Vijay and Pujara saw them off though, and imposed themselves on the first-change bowlers – Dasun Shanaka and the hapless Dilruwan Perera – forcing Dinesh Chandimal, the Sri Lanka captain, to recall his main bowlers sooner than he would have liked.

With insufficient time to recover, the likes of Lakmal eventually sent down loose deliveries, and India capitalised. It was a game of attrition for large parts, and there are no two batsmen in the current Indian set up better equipped to grind out opposition than Pujara and Vijay. Their stand of 209 was their third double-hundred dalliance.

For Vijay, it was a particularly pleasing knock. For long considered one of the first names in the playing XI as the go-to opener, a wrist injury that troubled him during the series against Australia earlier this year designated him to the sidelines. He had played large parts of the home Test summer with a fractured wrist, he later revealed, which had ruled him out completely from the Indian Premier League. He travelled to the UK for surgery, and spent a few months recuperating after returning on April 16.

Vijay had begun the home season with half-centuries against New Zealand, and centuries against England and Bangladesh. However, against Australia, his form wore off, something he later attributed to having to restrict his strength, and the shots he could play, due to the injury.

Having recovered sufficiently, he made his return in the day-night Duleep Trophy, where he performed more with the ball than the bat in the one match he played, and then the Ranji Trophy, where he scored a half-century against Andhra and 140 against Odisha in three games. Despite his form, though, he came back to the Indian set up to find Shikhar Dhawan, who impressed in the Champions Trophy and in the tour of Sri Lanka that followed, was now the preferred opener along with KL Rahul.

He watched on from the dressing room as both Rahul and Dhawan scored sizeable half-centuries in the second innings in Kolkata, but with Dhawan requesting leave from the second Test due to personal commitments, Vijay had his chance. And on Saturday, he made the most of it. India now have a problem of plenty in the opening department, but Vijay isn’t too concerned about that.

“Playing for India is difficult and whoever gets a chance, I wish them luck,” said Vijay. “I know how difficult it is to be in that space and perform for this team. Whoever gets a chance should perform. That’s all I can pass on to them. I feel as a professional you should always be ready whether you get a chance or not. You should be eying to get a chance from the inside. So whenever you get a chance, you are not lacking on that aspect. You can be fully aware of what is happening and what is going to happen. It is difficult, but I am used to it by now. I just wanted to contribute whenever I get an opportunity to play for India.”

Inevitably, Vijay was asked of his special partnership with Pujara, and what makes them tick. He put it down to their similar mindset. “I like batting, so it does not matter who bats at the other end,” he laughed. “Pujara also has similar mindset as he likes to dig in deep and scrap it out in a situation with varied demands. I like the good tempo between him and me, so hopefully, we can continue and do it for India for a number of times.”

As comebacks go, Indian openers have the best of it. Dhawan, Rahul and now Vijay have all had successful returns to the team after a spell in the sidelines. Asked what he makes of it, though, Vijay said: “I really don’t have to deal (with it) as long as I am happy and comfortable in my space. That’s all I wanted to be, and if I am able to achieve that on a consistent basis, I think I am doing a good job.”

He is, and that is all that is asked of him.

 

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Author - Vikash Kumar