England vs India: Vijay the monk lives up to his nickname

Murali Vijay’s nickname is the Monk. He earned it because of a predilection for shaving his head but anyone watching his century on the first day of the first Test at Trent Bridge would be forgiven for thinking it was because he has all the attributes of one. Patience, discipline and a willingness to accept the ups and downs of the day’s play characterised Vijay’s first hundred outside India. His knock was the reason India could claim the honours over England on day one, having ended up on 259 for 4. [caption id=“attachment_1612143” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Murali Vijay kept his eye on the ball. AFP[/caption] Vijay had come in to the Test with no discernible success away from home - he averaged just 18.5 outside the subcontinent before this innings - but behind the scenes he was working hard on his cricket. “I’ve worked a lot with videos of James Anderson,” Vijay told Sky Sports after ending the day unbeaten on 122. “The first 15 minutes are the toughest thing as an opener. I wanted to play straight and late. Duncan Fletcher has helped a lot because he knows how things work in these conditions. We were working for two weeks before we came out here.” There were a couple of early edges that ran away to third man but that aside, Vijay did not put a foot wrong in the six hours he was at the crease. He was never tempted by deliveries just outside offstump but the moment the bowlers went that little bit wider, he crashed them through the covers with joy. His timing was exquisite. Shots that were no more than a push would see the ball racing past bowlers and fielders. He was adaptable too. He struck 11 fours in getting to his 50. Then when India lost the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli immediately after lunch, and Anderson and Broad were looking threatening with every delivery, Vijay knuckled down and ground out seven runs from 45 deliveries, and in the company of Ajinkya Rahane, made sure there would be no collapse. “After lunch it was reversing a bit and it was also a little windy,” Vijay said. “Anderson and Broad got the ball to move around a bit and we lost a couple of wickets as a result. So we had to regroup. We are not worried about their reverse swing because we have seen them deploy it in the past series and we have prepared for it.” The best example of Vijay’s unhurried and unruffled performance came after he drove Broad straight down the ground to get to 99. Liam Plunkett chose to test his nerve by bowing short and into the body at him from around-the-wicket. It was prove to be wasted time as Vijay was content to drop his hands and sway out of the way. Having worked so hard to get to the threshold of three figures, he wasn’t going to slip at the final step. “Patience is something that I have been working on” he said “You need to bide your time at the crease and not be in a hurry. It is a five-day game and you want to tire the opposition out. So that has been my game-plan and this is what I have been working on all this while. Once you get set and the rhythm gets going, you enjoy in the middle. India will be hoping he continues to enjoy the middle on day two.