Is this the End of the Road for Murali Vijay?

Murali Vijay has had two flop foreign tours of South Africa and England. The flamboyant right-hander scored 102 runs in the six innings of the Proteas tour at an average of just 17. However, he scored only 26 runs in the two Test matches against England. He was dropped from the playing XI of the third Test and subsequently was shown the exit doors from the squad itself for the final two Test matches.

Thus, it hasn’t been a merry year for India’s classical opener. He went back to England to play in the County Championship to get his Midas Touch where he featured for Essex. In fact, the Tamil Nadu batsman was able to bring his best to the table as he scored one fifty and one hundred in the very first Test of his County stint.

Murali Vijay will look to make a solid comeback.

However, it was a bit too late for Vijay. The right-hander was ignored by the Indian selectors despite hitting back form once again. Therefore, it has put a question mark on his selection for the Australian tour. In fact, selectors have decided to give the opportunity to Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal. Therefore, if these two batsmen are able to make the most of their chances in the series against Windies, it is going to make the return of Vijay even more difficult.

Consequently, Vijay needs to make sure that he turns selectors eyes towards him by performing well in the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy. The right-hander will know the only way to get back into the team is to pile up runs in the domestic circuit.

It hasn’t been an easy time for the Indian opener. In fact, there is no doubt he has been a bit unlucky to find himself to be ousted from the team. Before the start of the England series, it was told that Murali Vijay is going to be India’s first choice opener.

The only way to get back is to score runs again.

However, after his dismal performance in the first two Test matches, Vijay was told to leave. In fact, he could have been given one more chance to prove his mettle. Nevertheless, Vijay will know that he has himself to blame as his poor form has led to his ouster.

Vijay had scored 402 runs for India on the England tour of 2014, which were the maximum runs for any Indian batsman. Therefore, the onus was on him to once again deliver the goods.

In fact, Vijay is one of the most technically correct Indian batsmen. However, he has looked to be more aggressive in his batting approach, which has played a part in his downfall.

Vijay had a fine tour of Australia in 2014.

Meanwhile, Murali Vijay had scored 482 runs on the previous tour of Australia in 2014. He was the third highest run-getter as he had scored his runs at an average of 60.25.

Consequently, Murali Vijay is going to be a vital cog in the Indian wheel for the tour of Down Under. He has all the experience in the book and he must be included in India’s squad for the Australia tour.

One of the chinks in India’s armor has been their batting. Therefore, players like Murali Vijay will have to support Virat Kohli. Kohli had done the bulk of the scoring on the England tour as he was the lone warrior.