‘Watching him bat was a treat’

Murali Vijay got to play his first Test last year by default – Gautam Gambhir was banned and he was roped in at the last minute. Against a decent Australian attack, he had an impressive debut, scoring 33 and 41. But he always knew he would not get another opportunity easily.

The Tamil Nadu opener got to play second Test also by default – Gambhir chose to skip the Test and he was roped in at the last minute. Once again, he proved his worth, scoring a solid 87 and putting on 221 runs for the first wicket with Virender Sehwag. Now again, he knows that he would not get another opportunity easily.

“I know it will not be easy for me to get into the squad soon as Viru and Gambhir have been scoring heavily. But I will try to make best use of my opportunity. I will wait for my chance.” But Vijay had to live up to a lot of expectations as he was playing place of one of the best openers.

“There was an extra burden. I had to live up to the expectations. I know it is not easy but this is a learning curve for me. I hope to continue in the same manner,” Vijay said.

He reached his maiden half century in style, hitting Muttiah Muralitharan out of the park over mid-wicket. But he was unlucky to have missed the three-figure mark as he got out leg before playing a needless sweep shot. He was visibly dejected. “It was a bad shot,” a disappointed Vijay said at the end of day’s play.

But Vijay said he enjoyed batting with Sehwag. “It was good to play with him. I really enjoyed watching him from the other end. It was a treat. He is so calm and strong when he bats,” he added. Vijay further said he learnt a thing or two from the dashing Delhi opener. “He is such a fantastic batsman. I got to learn some things from him. He is so easy batting on the wicket. He ran hard despite being there for a long time,” he said.