Is the talk of "intent" taking a toll on Murali Vijay?

Indian batsmen struggling in a Test series in South Africa is something we should not be surprised about. The story so far under Virat Kohli has followed a similar pattern of batsmen nicking and getting caught behind the wickets. However, the big surprise has been India’s opener Murali Vijay, not because of his failures but the way he got out in the two Tests.

Over the past three years, M Vijay has been India’s No. 1 opener in Tests, at least when they have gone out of the sub-continent. From 2013 till now, in Tests on tours of South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia, Vijay has scored the second most runs (1149) after current captain Virat Kohli (1503). Interestingly during the same period, Vijay has faced the most number of balls, exactly 2,643 of them.

What does the above number suggest? Vijay has the qualities of being a world-class opener because of the amount of time he spends on the wicket and that means he is blunting the new ball which makes the life of middle order much easier, against a softer ball and tiring bowlers.

So what is he doing differently on this tour?

One of the main reasons why Vijay has been successful outside sub-continent is the way he leaves the ball outside off stump, particularly when the red cherry is still shining and rock hard. The way he got dismissed in the first innings at Newlands while driving a ball on the up is interestingly only his second such instance in the time period mentioned above. The other instance was in Sydney at the end of a mentally draining tour in 2014-15. So he has been dismissed only twice in 14 Tests in that fashion.

One felt it was due to not getting acclimatized to these conditions and also playing at home for almost a year has made Vijay play more balls outside off stump that he usually leaves it alone. But the tendency to play away from the body continued in Centurion too.

The way Vijay collects his runs is a tough examination, in terms of skill and also the physical aspect because of the low strike rate. He had to undergo few injuries last year due to back issues and also underwent a wrist surgery which is probably hampering his movements at the crease.

Let's hope the "intent" talks in the dressing room from the captain and the team management hasn’t had an impact on the way Vijay has played this series. After all, opening in Tests is a specialist position and sometimes defence is the best offence which will go a long way in winning Test matches outside sub-continent.