The Value of Vijay

An average just touching 40 doesn’t augur well for an opener of the number 1 team in Tests who has been around for almost a decade now. But anyone who has followed the game long enough would concur with the statement that Cricket is full of numbers that blatantly lie. And anyone who has followed the career of Tamil Nadu batsman would know that the value of Vijay lies much beyond the numbers.

There are two phases in Vijay’s career. The first began with his surprise call up to the Indian team upon Gambhir’s ban in 2008 to play against Australia. From 2008 to 2013 series against Australia, the series that marked his rebirth as a Test opener, Vijay appeared 14 times in India colors and scored runs at an average of nearly 40, which is almost the same as his current average on the brink of his 50^th appearance. But this was the Vijay who was juggling between formats and trying hard to press his case as an all season opener for the team. Moreover, he was also the lynchpin of Chennai’s success in the first few seasons of Indian Premier League. Yet, in Tests, with Sehwag and Gambhir around, the chances were few and far between. Moreover, a consistent string of decent scores eluded Vijay and he found himself warming the bench on most occasions.

Vijay’s career getting a second wind coincided with the drastic decline of fortunes of the Delhi duo of Sehwag and Gambhir. And while Vijay’s value couldn’t be gauged properly in the presence of Gambhir and Sehwag, it came to the fore in the presence of the Delhi duo’s successor at the top of batting order – Shikhar Dhawan.

As the promise of Shikhar Dhawan rose and faded like the mania of Pokemon Go, Vijay came to be acknowledged as the batsman India needed at the top of the order. With a tightened technique and patience that reminded many of Sunil Gavaskar, Vijay was the assurance to the frustration that Shikhar Dhawan proved at the top of the order in his 23 match Test career. He might not have got the headline grabbing big hundreds most of the times, but what Vijay has done brilliantly over the last two years is laying the platform for the others like Kohli and Pujara to build on. And that reflects in the fact that on 7 out of 9 occasions when Vijay crossed the three figure mark, someone else also on the scorecard had a ton against his name.

The worth of Vijay lies in his ability to weather sessions after sessions looking unfazed. While he may not accumulate a lot of runs in that period, the assuredness of his defence goes a long way in blunting the bowling attack and in calming the nerves in the dressing room. With the advent of T20, players of Vijay’s ilk have become a rare species and that’s why Vijay deserves a lot more than what those numbers of his command.

As Vijay approaches his 50^th Test, an important landmark for a cricketer who made his debut 9 years ago, his value again needs to be measured with respect to his opening partner. Vijay, with his maturity as a cricketer has a lot to offer to someone like KL Rahul, whose tendency to punctuate his feeble returns with big scores despite the obvious talent can prove frustrating to anyone who is watching. Besides, while this series has seen KL Rahul contribute more consistently, the tendency to lose wicket against the run of play is proving to be Rahul's bane. That's where someone like Vijay who has shown amazing temperament in soaking and absorbing pressure can play a major role. With the series evenly poised at 1-1 and Australia missing the services of Mitchell Starc owing to an injury, one can expect Vijay to mark his 50^th Test with a special knock on his comeback to the team.