India vs Sri Lanka 2017: 1st Test, day 1 - 5 things we learnt from the day

#4 Murali Vijay left out of playing XI

Despite his cracking hundred for Tamil Nadu in the last Ranji game he played, Vijay was left out

India sprung a surprise when it left out Murali Vijay from the starting XI and opted to go with incumbents Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul.

Vijay had, over the years, established himself at the top of India's Test batting line-up with some outstanding performances. But injury struck at the wrong time and Dhawan capitalised on that in Sri Lanka with some resounding knocks.

That said, there should really be little question as to who should open for India in South Africa later this season.

Dhawan averages 27.83, 20.33 and 19.00 in Australia, England and South Africa respectively, while Vijay performed admirably well in South Africa the last time India toured the country.

Besides, Vijay's temperament and technique suits the longer formats of the game, and he was indeed India's first choice opener till a few months ago.