In a match where young and veteran players alike are keen to return impressive performances with the hope of making it to India’s Test team, Murali Vijay has done his chances no harm. The Tamil Nadu opening batsman put Rest Of India (ROI) in a commanding position on Day 1 of the 2013 Irani Cup with a fine 116-run knock.
Since making his debut in the 2008 Border Gavaskar Trophy, Vijay has played 12 Tests in four years. India’s steady opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir has made it extremely difficult for another opener to break into the side.
Vijay was the reserve opener for the home Test series against England in 2012, but didn’t play a single game. While he admits that waiting on the fringes for long is tough on him, Vijay also knows he cannot let the factors out of his control take his attention off his game.
“It’s a challenge being the reserve opener but as a professional you can’t crib over it,” Vijay said after putting ROI in a strong position at 330/5. “You have to take it and move forward, that matters a lot rather than sitting and saying you are not playing a match. Whenever I get an opportunity, I would like to give it my best shot,” Vijay said after the day’s play.
Vijay is, however, hopeful that his 11th first-class ton will enhance his chances of returning to the Test squad for the home series against Australia starting later this month. “Obviously it’s a big game for me and the motivation level was high. I just wanted to give my best shot,” Vijay said of his innings.
Vijay was pleased with his 144-run opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan and hoped it would prove to be a match-winning one. “Every knock is important. Myself and Shikhar gave a good start to the team, and hopefully we can build on it,” he said.
While not taking away anything from Vijay, the century came against a depleted Mumbai attack, which was without the services of Zaheer Khan and captain Ajit Agarkar. The batsman, however, said that the Mumbai attack was still up to par.
“They are the best team in domestic competition and have won the Ranji Trophy for the 40th time. They have a good attack. Once we got in, myself and Shikhar decided to play our natural game. We decided to play positive cricket,” he said.
Rest Of India were originally supposed to be captained by Virender Sehwag, who pulled out at the last moment due to an upset stomach. Vijay said that the team came to know about Sehwag’s exclusion only on the morning of the match.
Meanwhile, Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni had no qualms in admitting that his bowlers were not up to the mark on the first day of the match.
“Overall we did well. At the end of the day 330 for five is not a bad score on this wicket. At least we got five wickets today. Looking at the wicket, it’s not a bad total. Day 1 at Wankhede is ideal for seamers, and that’s what we have found out over the years,” he said.
The coach had worlds of praise for Mumbai’s stand-in captain, Abhishek Nayar, who was the most successful bowler of the day with two wickets. “Abhishek Nayar has got this knack to get good batsmen out. Another aspect is he sets up the batsmen,” Kulkarni said.
