"I am ready to bat at any position" : Murali Vijay

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Indian Test opener Murali Vijay, in an exclusive interview to espnstar.com's Ayanjit Sen, says he can bat down the order if required by the team management. More... Tuesday 22nd December 2009 "I am ready to bat at any position" Indian Test opener Murali Vijay, in an exclusive interview to espnstar.com's Ayanjit Sen, says he can bat down the order if required. With the combination of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag firing on, it will be difficult for the Tamil Nadu opener to replace any of the two. "I am ready to bat at any position. If the team management wants me to drop down the order, I will do so," he says. A tall, solid opener, Vijay admirably used both the chances he got to play Tests. And, incidentally, on both the occasions, he replaced Gautam Gambhir. He played the third Test against Sri Lanka in the recently-concluded series when Gambhir pulled out because of his sister's wedding. Vijay grabbed that opportunity and scored 87 runs studded with 10 boundaries. He played the medium pacers comfortably and got to his fifty with a towering six. At no point during his 200-plus partnership with Virender Sehwag, did he look like a batsman playing only his second Test. "I enjoyed the partnership with Sehwag. We developed a good understanding. His advice and encouragement also helped me a lot," said Vijay. It was an aesthetically pleasing innings. Technique and toughness are both ingrained well into his system. Making his first class debut in 2006, he has tasted success in the domestic arena, which prompted the selectors to call him to open the innings against Australia in Nagpur in 2008. He didn't disappoint there either scoring 33 and 41 and running out Matthew Hayden. He got this chance after Gambhir was banned for a match. On the verge of a generational change in the top order batting, India needs batsmen who can perform consistently over a long period of time. Idolising Sachin Tendulkar, Vijay says he got a great support from the family as well. "The family members have always encouraged me. Self-belief has been the key," says the 25-year-old. Cricket pundits have said that he has the potential to share the company of his name - Vijay - with those greats of the yesteryears, Merchant, Hazare and Manjrekar. His immediate task at hand - Ranji Trophy quarterfinals - and that's where his focus is on.

[S.Bond]

hahahahaha,he also know that he can take yuvi's place without too much problem... but viru and ghambir are their to stay...

[Temujin Khaghan]

he ahould aim for dravid's place. maybe he will get it after 2 years.

[hari504504]

What else would someone aspiring to get into the team say - ? - "I'm sorry.. its either opening.. or nothing for me..."

[Sachinism]

Its good he is being open about batting any position. Has he batted up and down the order for TN?

[champ]

feel sorry for these fringe players .. but that's the reality how strong we are in battiing .. i think he can tried in the odis .. he is attacking enough .. no need to brand him just as a test player.

[achilles]

Desperation... bad thing. You get thrown about when you are forthright with your desperation

[kabira]

Even Wasim Jaffer is trying for middle order LOLzers. It seems Sehwag and Gambhir have surely shut all the openersi n the country for 5 years. Just like how our middle order never allowed any other middle order batsman for number of years

[achilles]

Jaffer is such a lovely batter. Its really a disgrace, the way he was shown the door.

[bunny]

The guy is easily better than Trott. He should ideally replace Yuvraj (or whoever is out of form).

[coffee_rules]

Jaffer/Yuvi were exposed in Aus. Dravid should sit out BD tour. There is no need for him to strain himself over BD. One of Laxman, Dravid should make way for fringe players. Even Karthik can replace Yuvi. I think.

[Ram]

Whatay pity.. Someone like Vijay is what a team like New Zealand desperately needs. Yet, he has to sit outside patiently and wait for injuries/retirements/loss of form in the Indian team before he has a place. I wonder when his number will arrive though. Sachin/VVS look good another 2-3 years. Dravid is 37, but is our best batsmen of this year (what a turnaround!). Yuvraj has almost sealed his spot at no.6, but he can still lose form. Gautam is in the form of his life, but its just inevitable before things start going South. But team wont let go off him that easily. And, its almost inconcievable to think we will drop Viru ever again, even if he scores 10 ducks on the trot. At the minimum, Vijay may have to wait for another 15-18 months before a full-time place.

[punjabi_khota]

Jaffer/Yuvi were exposed in Aus. Dravid should sit out BD tour. There is no need for him to strain himself over BD. One of Laxman' date=' Dravid should make way for fringe players. Even Karthik can replace Yuvi. I think.[/quote'] Yuvi isn't going anywhere for the moment as long as he is fit. Karthik is way down in the list and I think the selectors will be looking at new people. As for being exposed in Aus, even Dravid had a horror OZ tour in 1999 where Kumble outscored him.

[graphic23]

p_k, when Dravid had that horror tour of Aus in '99, his averaged more away than at home (even after that tour!), and in every country, apart from India, he had been averaging 45+ (infact, IIRC, only Sri Lanka he averaged < 50). Neither Jaffer nor Yuvi can make that claim.

[graphic23]

I'm with CBF, btw. I think our middle order can take a break and try new folks like Badrinath, Pujara (if he is still in contention).

[The Outsider]

Yuvi isn't going anywhere for the moment as long as he is fit. Karthik is way down in the list and I think the selectors will be looking at new people. As for being exposed in Aus' date=' even Dravid had a horror OZ tour in 1999 where Kumble outscored him.[/quote'] Yaar, tu Yuvi ke faaltu ke gun gaana kab band karega - he has been average to above average in tests overall and poor to average outside the subcontinent. His spot is not really sealed in that sense - though I agree that given we are playing a lot of our tests at home in the near future he'll do enough to be around. I feel next winter's South Africa tour will be a make or break for him.

[ViruRulez]

hope he is given chance in the Bangladesh series.. some of the players like him, badri and pujara can be given chance and the seniors can rest in that test series.. give a lot of domestic players chance during that series

[The Outsider]

hope he is given chance in the Bangladesh series.. some of the players like him' date=' badri and pujara can be given chance and the seniors can rest in that test series.. give a lot of domestic players chance during that series[/quote'] No one is going to sit out of a test series - you can forget about that.

[ViruRulez]

No one is going to sit out of a test series - you can forget about that.

yaar it does not make sense not giving rest to a minnows series like Bangladesh .. we should try at least two new guys .. at least 3-4 seniors should be rested.. even if we send our C team they should win it comfortably .. why to waste our senior players when they have a lot of cricket coming up after that

[The Outsider]

yaar it does not make sense not giving rest to a minnows series like Bangladesh .. we should try at least two new guys .. at least 3-4 seniors should be rested.. even if we send our C team they should win it comfortably .. why to waste our senior players when they have a lot of cricket coming up after that

Whether it makes sense or not can be debated, but the bottomline is that no cricketer is going to sit out of a test series, specially the batting trio who have maybe 2 years left.