India v/s England: Murali Vijay, sort the short one out

When Murali Vijay fell to a Chris Woakes short ball for a 'duck', caught by Joe Root at slips, former England captain Nasser Hussain said on air that the visiting bowlers had found out his weakness against short-pitched deliveries and that more of them will be thrown at him in the remaining Tests in Mumbai and Chennai.

After a sound start to the series – 126 & 31 in Rajkot – Vijay's form has been on the downslide. Scores of 20 & 3 in Visakhapatnam and 12 & 0 in Mohali may have started giving him doubts. Vijay on song is a beautiful sight. But a struggling Vijay is as much painful.

Alright, India are sitting comfortably at 2-0 with two more Tests to go. The two victories that India posted in Vizag and Mohali after an honourable draw in Rajkot was courtesy Cheteshwar Pujar-Virat Kohli partnership in the second Test and the runs scored by the lower half led by Ravichandran Ashwin in the game just finished on Tuesday.

Such has been the contribution by the lower half that gave the bowlers enough totals to defend that the lack of it by opener Murali Vijay almost went unnoticed. That he mans the boundary ropes after starting at slips to the shining new ball also has taken him away from the scrutiny.

Vijay started in an emphatic manner with a chanceless 126 and that double-century partnership with local lad Pujara on a typical Rajkot track. But he was found out by the English medium-pacers who worked on his weakness to short-pitched deliveries. Each of the four England medium-pacers – James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes – dismissed the 32-year-old with the short of length deliveries, forcing the right-hander to either glove or nick to the waiting slip cordon, if not the wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.

What is surprising was the same Vijay found success in the swinging conditions of England in 2014 when the other batsmen found the going tough. That was during the phase when Vijay was one of the few consistent batsmen (Ajinkya Rahane was another) who made useful contributions in all conditions – England, South Africa, Australia and ending with a 150 in the rain-affected drawn Test in Bangladesh in June 2015. He had secured his place in the side as an opener.

That Vijay was playing only one format also helped him to work on his technique and be more assured and compact while playing in different conditions overseas.

Vijay's form in the team may not even be a concern for the team. But he cannot hold on to it forever. And, he knows it. Such has been the roaring comeback of Parthiv Patel into Tests after eight years that he outscored his opening partner Vijay in both the innings, giving the Indian think-tank the extra option of playing purely as an opener, should regular wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha walk into the 11 straightaway next Thursday here.

A look at Vijay's performances in the last year or so shows that he has begun a series well but has not carried on in the same fashion in the second half of a series, like, say, Virat Kohli did the Australia tour of 2014-15 his very own with close to 700 runs in four Tests (see box).

Former India opener and now commentator and analyst Aakash Chopra found Vijay's struggle against the short ball surprising.

"It is surprising, especially for someone who has been extremely comfortable against the short ball," Chopra told DNA on Friday. "While it is difficult to play the short ball in India because of lack of pace and bounce, contrary to the popular opinion that if it is fast and bouncy, you are more troubled. But if you have a decent technique that Vijay has, you can be successful outside (India). Here, some balls are stopping, some climb a little more, and he has found himself in a slightly awkward a couple of times.

"I don't see technical flaw as such because it is working for him elsewhere and there is not reason why it can't work here. In fact, I remember the first Test of the India-New Zealand Test series in Kanpur. He was actually dishing out a Masterclass on how to leave a bouncer. He was that good. He was leaving beautifully when everybody else was getting into some amount of trouble. I won't be surprised if he addresses it quickly and he will be absolutely fine because his basic technique is pretty solid."

Chopra was equally perplexed as Vijay as to why the second half of a series in recent times has not been as impactful as the first half. Chopra, who opened for India in 10 Tests in 2003-04, said: "There is one thing with the openers. When you travel so often as Vijay in the last two years, I doubt you will find an opener who has made it really big outside India. Even records of all successful openers, barring Sunil Gavaskar with great technique, openers will manage a century here and a century there but never score 700 runs in a series for the simple reason that (new) Kookaburra ball helps in those conditions. One good ball comes your way very often. The wicket-taking ball is actually bowled very often to an opener. But India is one place where you can be consistent as an opener where the wicket-taking deliveries don't happen when the ball is new."

The current break between the third and fourth Tests would give Vijay the desired time to reflect on where he is going wrong and come back better.

Vijay this series:

1st Test, Rajkot: 126 & 31
2nd Test, Vizag: 20 & 3
3rd Test, Mohali: 12 & 0

Well begun but...

vs New Zealand (2016-17)
1st Test, Kanpur: 65 & 76
2nd Test, Kolkata: 9 & 7
3rd Test, Indore: 10 & 19

vs South Africa (2015-16)
1st Test, Mohali: 75 & 47
2nd Test, Bengaluru: 28*
3rd Test, Nagpur: 40 & 5
4th Test, Delhi: 12 & 3

vs Australia (2014-15)
1st Test, Adelaide: 53 & 99
2nd Test, Brisbane: 144 & 27
3rd Test, Melbourne: 68 & 11
4th Test, Sydney: 0 & 80

vs England (2014)
1st Test, Trent Bridge: 146 & 52
2nd Test, Lord's: 24 & 95
3rd Test, Rose Bowl: 35 & 12
4th Test, Old Trafford: 0 & 18
5th Test, The Oval: 18 & 2