The secret behind Murali Vijay's resurgence

Murali Vijay sways away from the line of a bouncer

317 runs in the series. That is more than Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara combined. In the ongoing Test series, Murali Vijay has been in a zone of his own. He has not offered a shot to 315 balls out of the 922 he has faced. And that is not surprising for those who have followed Vijay’s progress since his initial days in the Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu.

From criticism to applause

The same author had given a scathing account of Vijay's batting here, but he has made me eat humble pie. His biggest concern prior to coming to England was his off-stump awareness, and his ability to inexplicably throw his wicket away in the softest of manners.

But, that Murali Vijay seems to be gone. What we see now is Murali Vijay willing to fight it out, a Murali Vijay who is prepared to leave balls outside off stump, a Murali Vijay who is prepared to wait for the good balls to get his runs off. What we see now is the Vijay who initially made his debut for India, prior to the glitz and glamour of the Indian Premier League.

In many ways, the IPL altered everyone’s perception about the opening batsman from Chennai. His blitzkriegs in the most important of situations for the Super Kings changed the perception about him from a technically correct batsman to a T20 basher.

Different Vijay in Tests and T20s

A T20 basher is exactly Vijay has proved he is not. All through his time with the Tamil Nadu Ranji team, he has been someone who has been willing to take the long haul. And in many ways, he has exemplified that in all his centuries since his comeback to the Test side in 2013. Before his IPL exploits, Vijay used to get big centuries in the longer forms of the game. Now, he is back to doing that again.

Be it the two brilliant supporting hands he gave to Pujara and Shikhar Dhawan in consecutive Tests against Australia or the hundred at Trent Bridge, or the 95 at Lord's, Vijay has been patient, and ready to let the more dominant partner do the bulk of the scoring while he conjured up the runs slowly and locked one end up.

The shot he played to get out in the second innings at Lord's was in many ways, a shot he would play when he’s nervous, when he's fidgety. And, that is what often brings about his downfall. He had for the first time on this tour got out to a nothing shot, at a ball he would have been better off leaving. This shot wasn't a drive. It wasn’t a correct defence. Had he middled it, he would have sent this back to the bowler. But it is a shot which is difficult to avoid, especially for openers. Maybe the nervous nineties got to him.

Whenever Vijay bats well, even in the early phase of his career, there is a sense of calmness and serenity about him. A calmness and serenity that you don’t often associate with someone who has still not established himself at the highest level.

Not for nothing, although for completely different reasons, is he nicknamed Monk.

How Vijay turned a corner

The uncertainty over his place in the side prior to 2013 wouldn’t have helped either. He only got games when either of Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir were unavailable, and that stop-start nature of a career can be difficult for even the best of batsmen to handle. Even in that phase, he did reasonably well. HIs 87 at the Brabourne Stadium against Sri Lanka was buried under Sehwag’s mammoth 293, and his maiden Test hundred against Australia was overshadowed by another brilliant double century; this time by Sachin Tendulkar.

Vijay could very well have sulked, but he didn't. He has turned a corner, and established himself as India's premier Test opener. Vijay's batting in these two Testshave shown the way for India to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-Test Series.

Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first innings, Ravi Jadeja and Ishant Sharma in the second. But somewhere in between, the most important knock of the Test was forgotten. A 95 that was conjured in similar circumstances to another 95 at Lord's by another Indian batsman, who just happened to be called Rahul Dravid.