The end of Murali Vijay's career & the beginning of a new chapter in Indian cricket

Murali Vijay's axe could well mark the end of his cricketing career. There is a reason why this could well be true. Before the start of the Test series all the hype, media debates and discussions in cricketing circles were all about who will open alongside Vijay for the first Test.

A pair at Lord's & India's thrashing at the hands of England made him a strong case for his axing. Having crossed the age of 34 and struggling to score a 50 in last 10 innings meant that the doors were bound to be closed at least for the time being.

My favourite Murali Vijay's innings till date is his gritty knock of 146 vs England in Trent Bridge in 2014. Who could have predicted that 4 years later at the same ground he would be dropped from the team? Indeed life at a full circle for Vijay.

From Gavaskar to Tendulkar & then from Tendulkar to Kohli, India has seen great batting legends and this tradition has continued thereafter. Probably, India could have seen the birth of another batting legend in the form of Prithvi Shaw. Hope that this rich batting tradition continues for India generation after generation. Prithvi Shaw's exploit in domestic circles and recent performances in India A side clearly were hard to ignore.

Mumbai cricket has continued this rich tradition of gifting India batting legends but it is too early to say the same about Shaw right now though here is another gem in the form of Prithvi Shaw. India could be tempted to give at least one opportunity to Shaw in the last Test provided Shikhar Dhawan has a poor fourth Test.

But Shaw clearly makes a strong case for himself in the upcoming home series against Windies this winter in October. India clearly looking at the future now with the likes of Pant, Pandya, Shaw and Vihari being inducted into the team. 10 years later as I write this article now, I hope that Prithvi Shaw has created a name for himself in this rich batting history of Indian cricket.

Kuldeep Yadav's dropping from Test squad also rests the immense hype regarding his selection into starting XI in the place of Ashwin. It is yet another concrete proof of the fact that the exploits in coloured clothing don't guarantee your performance in red ball cricket. Red ball cricket is no child's play and it requires completely different levels of skills and mindset in order to play this form of cricket.

Yet another step was taken in the positive direction by the team management today. Overall, a great day for Indian Cricket today after a clinical performance at Trent Bridge. Hope that these one-off occasional away wins continue to increase and India win the series 3-2.

May the better team win the series which has been an absolute treat to watch this summer for all the cricket fans!