Indian players who might have played their final Test innings

After Team India ’s dismal show in England, heads will roll. In that aftermath, there are 2 players who might have already played their last Test innings for Team India.

Murali Vijay

Test record: Matches: - 59, Innings - 101, Runs – 3933, Highest Score – 167, Average – 39.33

Murali Vijay came into the England series with a lot of confidence behind him. He had scored a century in his last Test innings, though it had come against newcomers Afghanistan.

Vijay had a successful tour of England in 2014. In the first two Test matches of the 2014 series, Vijay aggregated 317 runs at an average of 79. It was an Indian record for the highest tally in two Tests in England. Due to his record-breaking performance, India managed to draw the first Test and win the second Test to go one up in that five-match series.

Thereafter, Murali Vijay’s form dipped as he managed to score only 85 runs in the next 6 innings to finish with 402 runs in the series. Coincidentally, India lost the last 3 Test matches of the series where Murali Vijay failed to contribute.

Based on his track record in 2014, at the start of the 2018 England series, Murali Vijay was expected to leave ball after ball outside the off-stump and wear out the England bowlers. But it didn’t happen that way as he was never allowed to settle down.

In the first Test at Edgbaston, Vijay got out for 20 & 6. In the second Test at Lord’s, he got a pair as he got out to James Anderson in both the innings. In the four innings that Vijay had played, he had faced only 75 balls. 3 of his 4 dismissals were either LBWs or bowled signifying a chink in his armour.

To Vijay’s credit, in the Lord’s Test, when India were put into bat, the pitch and overhead conditions were heavily loaded against the batsmen. Any other better batsmen in the world would have succumbed to the adverse conditions and against Anderson and Broad. The highest score for India in that match was just 26.

India’s defeat in the first two Tests necessitated the team management to look for some other option. This resulted in the dropping of Murali Vijay from the third Test and from the squad itself for the fourth and fifth Tests.

Vijay doesn’t play white ball cricket for India anymore. It will be very difficult for him to come back into the Test squad on the basis of his performances in domestic cricket and IPL. With the likes of Prithvi Shaw breathing down his neck, one can safely say that Vijay had already played the final innings of his Test career. It is a pity that Vijay had to finish his distinguished Test career on a pair.

---

Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik - The sound of timber

Test Record

Matches: - 26, Innings - 42 , Runs – 1025, Highest Score – 129, Average – 25

Dinesh Karthik made his Test debut in 2004. When he started representing India as a wicket-keeper in Test Cricket, his only other rival on the horizon was Parthiv Patel. Both the wicket-keepers had everything to look for with a long career ahead. That was before the arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni appeared out of nowhere to transpire into a legend of India Cricket.

Dinesh Karthik got only limited opportunities after Dhoni’s advent. He had played in some of the Test matches as a specialist opening batsman and had done fairly well.

Karthik once again came into the reckoning after Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket in 2015. The injury to Wriddhaman Saha hastened Dinesh Karthik’s return to Test Cricket.

Karthik had a wonderful opportunity to impress upon the selectors in the England series. But he didn’t make use of that opportunity. He was always shaky behind the wickets and his presence as a wicket-keeper didn’t inspire confidence to the fielding unit.

Dinesh Karthik has been a capable bat all through his career. His crunch moment in Test Cricket came in the second innings of the first Test at Edgbaston. India, chasing a target of 194 to win, were 78 for 5 when Dinesh Karthik joined his captain Virat Kohli who was batting very well at the other end.

All Karthik had to do at that stage was to stay put and forge a decent partnership with Kohli to get nearer to the target. Unfortunately, Karthik didn’t have the stomach to fight it out and was saved by a couple of reviews before he finally got out for 20 runs. That virtually sealed his career. On top of that, Karthik conceded 19 byes in that low-scoring match which India lost by 31 runs.

Karthik got one more chance in the second Test where he scored 1 & 0. After that horror show, Karthik had to go.

Dinesh Karthik shall still continue to represent India in white ball cricket and shall have his good times in the IPL. Unfortunately for him, Parthiv Patel is still around. Saha is likely to return soon after his injury lay off. Rishabh Pant, the young and energetic keeper, has consolidated his position in the side by scoring a century in his third Test match.

Hence, in so far as Test matches are concerned, Karthik had already completed playing his last Test innings at Lord’s.

Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik have a lot in common. Both are from the state of Tamilnadu. Both made their Test debuts against Australia. Now both have played their last Test match at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground. While Murali Vijay failed to score any run in his last two Test innings, Dinesh Karthik surpassed him by the least possible margin by scoring a solitary run in his last two Test innings.