The last time that India toured the West Indies, in 2011, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were a part of the team, Virat Kohli was making his Test debut, and India were yet to face a series of humiliating whitewashes that would later be remembered as two of India’s worst performances away from home. In the aftermath of the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of England (2011) and Australia (2011-12), which were worsened by the home series loss to England in 2012, things changed dramatically in Indian cricket.
The aforementioned legends – Dravid and Laxman – called it a day the following year, and another maverick of their era – Virender Sehwag – was unceremoniously shown the door, as was his Delhi teammate, Gautam Gambhir. The Indian cricket team was overhauled from tip to toe, and by the time the Caribbeans visited India for a return tour in 2013 – which was also Sachin Tendulkar’s last Test series – Tendulkar was the only connection remaining that linked the upcoming crop of cricketers with the era gone by.
Since then, the team has been in a transition stage and has largely been dependent upon the spinners – namely Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh – for success at home. That a country known predominantly for its batting has been dependent upon the bowlers for its victories does come as a surprise. It has been during this era of transition, that three young Indians have persevered, and have taken upon themselves the burden of stabilising the Indian batting line up. Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli have been the three lynchpins of the Indian batting contingent in Tests and have played crucial roles in some of the famous Indian victories, both at home, and away from home.
The oldest of the three, Vijay, has persevered the most, for he has been a part of the team since 2008, and over the years has established himself as one of the most consistent top order batsmen as well as the solution to India’s opening woes since the departure of Sehwag and Gambhir.
An inconsistent beginning
It took Vijay almost two years to get his maiden Test hundred. That he was persisted with for such a long period, especially in a country like India, where the batting pantheons include some of the greatest Test batsmen of all time indicate two things. One, that India were desperate for a solid opening batsmen (this is despite the batting friendly domestic structure that the country has put in place) and that they weren’t finding any, and two, that albeit his inconsistent run, Vijay had the right technique for an opening batsman and perhaps that forced the selectors to groom the youngster rather than shun him apart. The scores of 33, 41, 87 and 30 in this first four Test innings don’t exactly speak of inconsistency per se, but the scores that followed definitely do.
Having gained his Test debut because Gambhir had had a spat with Shane Watson during the third Test against Australia in 2008, Vijay’s formative years in international cricket saw him emerge as a perfect replacement – for players injured, suspended or maybe too tired with their lives – who was willing to fill in with promising 30s and 40s and even 50s on occasions, but someone who just couldn’t take the next leap and go on to score big. While the scores of 4, 32 and 7 that followed his first four Test innings necessitated the need for a replacement of the replacement, the Indian Premier League season of 2010 that followed, in many ways, changed the fortunes of the Tamil Nadu-born cricketer.
458 runs from 15 IPL games at an average of 35 and a strike-rate in excess of 150 gave the much needed impetus to Vijay’s career and perhaps it was the confidence that the right-handed batsman gained from the tournament that helped him excel at the international level, for his stats , at least in India, saw a drastic improvement. His first Test century against Australia in Bangalore in 2010 and the 37 that he scored in the 2nd innings of the same match were his only two appearances in Tests for India that year. Outside Asia, however, there was still a question mark on his batting credentials, to which he did put a full stop, albeit a bit late in his career.
A string of disappointing performances in South Africa and the West Indies in the 2010-11 season, that saw Vijay having scores of 19, 9, 8, 0, 11, 3, 5, and 45 against his name from 7 innings, made the selectors think that the right-hander wasn’t probably the best choice for the opener’s slot. Consequently, he was dropped from the team for the away tours of England and Australia (2011-12). That it was a blessing in disguise, as India were smacked left, right and centre, is anybody’s guess. He was picked as the reserve opener for the return series against England at home, but didn’t feature in any of the four Tests.
2013 – Vijay’s year of reckoning
Not many young batsmen survive for 5 years in international cricket with the kind of scores that Vijay had had until the beginning of the year 2013. But such was the dearth of quality openers that India faced during the time – with Abhinav Mukund failing to grab his opportunity – that Vijay was persisted with. The long rope that was given finally paid dividends, as the next Border-Gavaskar series that he featured in, only his second since debut saw him flourish as a proper Test match opener. Back to back hundreds, at Hyderabad and Mohali, and that too big hundreds – 167 and 153 – were followed by a half century in Delhi.
The 4-0 drubbing of the Australians combined with Vijay’s marvellous performances deemed him fit again for overseas tours after having been dropped for similar endeavours two years back. This time around, Vijay did not disappoint. That India faced a South Africa side that had one of their best combinations in history must be considered before judging Vijay’s knocks of 39 at Johannesburg and 97 at Durban.
However, the shot at glory still beckoned. After having spent close to five years in the international arena, he still wasn’t a match winner. The subsequent tour to New Zealand, best remembered for Brendon McCullum’s herculean triple hundred, didn’t bring good news for the Indian opener either, as he managed 26, 13, 2, and 7 from 4 innings. India failed to win a Test on both tours.
Probably, this was the lowest of lows in Vijay’s career. After having shown glimpses of promise in the home games, the right-hander was reduced to an ordinary batsman, whenever India travelled overseas. Just two knocks of substance from 16 innings outside Asia, over the course of 5 years didn’t justify the long rope that was being handed over to him so graciously by the team. However, what unfolded thereafter, made one realise that the 5 years spent under the ground, growing the roots and finding nourishment, was only done for his growth akin to a bamboo tree. The year 2014 proved out to be the year saw that Vijay outgrow the skirmishes that he had and take his rightful place in the global batting fraternity.
The tryst with glory
When India travelled to England next, Vijay was a part of the team and was on his first tour to England. That the result wasn’t much different from India’s previous tour kept aside, for the two weeks that India looked to be dominating the home side on an away tour, Vijay was the forefront of the proceedings. In the first Test of the 2014 tour, at Nottingham, Vijay, playing only his first innings on the English soil, set the Indian hopes soaring through his majestic 146 in the first innings of the series, and followed that up with a 52 in the second innings.
While the dead surface there prevented the game from having a result, England’s suicide mission at Lord’s, in the second Test gave India their first victory at the touted ‘home of cricket’ after 28 years. Vijay’s 95 in the second innings helped India pose a challenging target of 319 for England to chase down in the 4th innings, which the Englishmen, stupendously, tried to run after and failed.
From a relatively unconquered territory, India, thereafter, moved to a completely unconquered territory. The 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series was best remembered for Virat Kohli and Steven Smith’s run-fests, and the tragic departure of Phil Hughes just before the first Test. But, with scores of 53, 99, 144, 27, 68, 11, 0 and 80, Vijay had an excellent outing, which was unfortunately subdued by his teammate’s superhuman efforts.
The 150 that he scored upon his return to the subcontinent thereafter, against Bangladesh in Fatullah, laid the prelude to a string of exceptional knocks on exceptionally challenging Indian surfaces. In Kumar Sangakkara’s last Test, at the P Sara Oval, Colombo, in August 2015, Vijay’s 82 helped India set Sri Lanka a monumental target of 413 in the 4th innings, and Ravichandran Ashwin, thereafter, denied the Lankan legend a winning farewell.
Much hue and cry prevailed post the first three Tests of the Gandhi-Mandela series, and much of it was justified. Notwithstanding the questions marks raised over the pitch that caused the team that had AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla get bowled out for 79, Vijay’s knocks of 75, 47, 28* and 40 in the first four innings of the series not only set the perfect example for those advocating against the prodigious turn that the pitches had on offer, but also elevated Vijay’s stature as a patient, technically sound and a gritty batsman, who could now bat on glassy surfaces, if needed.
Hence, from two innings of substance out of 16 that he played outside Asia, Vijay now had 2 centuries and six fifties outside the subcontinent since July 2014 from 18 innings. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli have found it relatively easier to bat, because Vijay has, more often than not, provided India with a solid foundation at the top of the order.
With 17 Test matches coming up for this season, Vijay’s role becomes all the more important. Given Shikhar Dhawan’s clandestine affair with consistency and KL Rahul’s relative inexperience in Test cricket, Vijay needs to be one to take the onus upon himself to make India start these Tests well.
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