M Vijay’s century in Nagpur was further proof he should be India’s first-choice Test opener

“He simply doesn’t score ugly runs,” former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain had said about Murali Vijay during England’s tour of India in 2016-’17. Those words hung in the air as the man nicknamed ‘Monk’ meditated his way to his 10th century against Sri Lanka in Nagpur on Saturday.

He was patient, he was watchful to start with, he played some exquisite cover drives – all of the statements which hold true for almost every good Vijay innings in Tests held true on the second day of the second Test against a Lankan bowling attack that huffed and puffed but came nowhere close to blowing the house down.

Cut to Eden Gardens.

A green pitch awaited team India for the first Test match against Sri Lanka. There was rain in the air, to boot. It was the most un-Indian of conditions as one can remember for a Test match in India. When Dinesh Chandimal won a “special toss” and asked India to bat first, one thought the situation demanded for M Vijay to be included in the XI. No better preparation for your first-choice opener ahead of a tough tour to South Africa that’s a side-note in every cricket discussion these days in India, isn’t it?

Surprise drop

As it turned out we were wrong. Now, whether Virat Kohli’s decision to use KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan was to gauge which of those two were better in these conditions to partner Vijay in Cape Town in the first week of January or was it a signal that the Chennai opener had slid down in the pecking order – we have no way of knowing. But it was indeed a surprise, given the Indian think-tank’s insistence that an injured player will win his place back irrespective of the form of the player who replaced him.

Kohli has repeatedly spoken about the problem of plenty India have at the top of the order in Tests but he’s never mentioned which is his preferred pairing.

But the move did raise eyebrows and murmurs became whispers when both Rahul and Dhawan walked back to the pavilion after facing 12 balls collectively. They made amends in the second innings with half-centuries, but by then the pitch had gone from Cape Town-esque to Mohali-esque. If that first innings was their audition for South Africa, fair to say it did not go well for Dhawan and Rahul.

Now, cut back to the first innings in Nagpur.

To call this pitch at the VCA Stadium lively and one where India were hoping to prepare for South Africa would be hyperbole. Except looking green, there was nothing South African about this track as it became evident on day one, when Sri Lanka under-performed to be bowled out for 205.

And as the merry-go-round at the top of the order continued, with Dhawan opting out of the match due to personal reasons, it was Vijay’s turn to make a comeback. He would have known this was a chance to make a statement, even if the conditions were nowhere as challenging as at the Eden Gardens a few days back. But he needed runs under his belt. He needed time in the middle. He needed to show that he is still the man to open the innings for India in Tests.

With 128 well-constructed runs against a struggling bowling attack, Vijay did not blow Kohli and Ravi Shastri away but did enough to re-stake his claim as the go-to opening batsman.

He started the day off with the most exquisite square drive – it was good length, angled away by Lahiru Gamage and Vijay stayed at the crease and caressed it through the gap. But hang on, that’s the kind of shot that could hurt batsmen on bouncy, seaming wickets. Is this how he was going to play the rest of innings – throwing his bat at bad balls on a good pitch for batting, in search for quick runs?

Buckling down

Vijay buckled down. With a patient Cheteshwar Pujara for company, he cut out those loose shots from his game. The boundaries dried up in the first hour, but when they did come, they were cover-drives played close to his body. They were on-drives played while getting inside the line of the ball with an initial movement to the off-side. Indeed, after the boundary off the very first ball, Vijay started hitting the ball in the region between extra-cover and mid-wicket, when he played on the front foot.

It was not always easy for him. Gamage bowled a consistent line outside off to dry the runs up. He should have had Vijay caught at silly mid-on after a clever bit of captaincy by Chandimal. But Vijay carried on. He picked his bowlers – Dasun Shanaka and Dilruwan Perera came under the knife whenever Vijay shifted gears – and targeted the areas in the field where he wanted to score, with ease.

Ultimately, he got out to a poor shot when the wily old Rangana Herath went over the stumps and floated in a full toss outside leg, luring a top-edged sweep. Vijay was cross with himself when he walked back. He hit his pads with the bat repeatedly. He shook his head over and over. He knew he had the chance to score big and he missed it.

But with the restraint he showed for 221 balls, with the class that oozed out of the 11 boundaries he scored, and with that one six that he hits at will by dancing down the track – Vijay showed he has the right to consider himself the favourite to be the first name on the team sheet when Kohli chooses his openers in Tests.