.jpg) Murali Vijay during a practice session with the Indian team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1984-04-01)1 April 1984 (age 40) Madras,Tamil Nadu, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Monk[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armoff break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Opening batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Nikita Vanjara (Wife) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 260) | 6 November 2008 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 14 December 2018 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 181) | 27 February 2010 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 9 July 2015 v Zimbabwe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 27) | 1 May 2010 v Afghanistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 19 July 2015 v Zimbabwe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I shirt no. | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2019 | Tamil Nadu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008/09 | Central Districts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Chennai Super Kings(squad no. 8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Delhi Daredevils(squad no. 8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Kings XI Punjab(squad no. 8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Chennai Super Kings(squad no. 1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Essex(squad no. 8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Somerset(squad no. 1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:ESPNcricinfo,5 October 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Murali Vijay (born 1 April 1984) is a former Indian internationalcricketer. He was a right-handedopening batter and an occasional right-armoff break bowler. He has represented theIndian cricket team and played forTamil Nadu in domesticfirst-class cricket. He was a member of the Indian team that won the2013 ICC Champions Trophy.
In 2001, Vijay started playing cricket at the college level before he was selected for the Tamil Nadu under-22 cricket team. He made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in 2006 and was amongst the top run-scorers in the2006–07 Ranji Trophy, which was his maiden first-class tournament. In 2008, he was called up to theSouth Zone cricket team that played for theDuleep Trophy and later to theIndia A side that faced the touringNew Zealand A team. He made histest debut againstAustralia in November 2008 when the team's regular openerGautam Gambhir was not available. After a brief run in the side playing test cricket, he played his firstODI against the touringSouth African team in February 2010.
Vijay is noted as a good timer of the ball, who tends to play off his front foot and prefer his fore-arm wrists to play the shots. Known for his ability to bat for longer periods of time, he played mainly test cricket for India. After a start-stop initial few years, he became a regular in the Indian test teams after his call back to the side during thehome series against Australia in 2013, in which he scored back to back centuries. He was one of the designated opening batsmen in the away tours, the highlight of which included the2014 series againstEngland in which he was the top run getter. Though he played his last ODI in 2015, he continued to play tests for India regularly. After agood series against England in early 2017, his returns diminished over the next two seasons and he played his last test in December 2018. He finished his career with 3982 runs in 61 test matches at anaverage of over 38 to go with the 331 runs he accumulated in 17 ODIs.
Vijay played for three franchises in theIndian Premier League (IPL)T20 cricket tournament. He represented theChennai Super Kings (CSK) for seven season across two stints and in2010 and2011. He was also the top run scorer in the2010 Champions League Twenty20, which was won by CSK. He had a short stint withDelhi Daredevils in2014 before he was part of theKings XI Punjab side for three seasons including the2016 season as captain. He scored 2619 runs in 106 matches with two centuries in the IPL. He also captained theKovai Kings side in theTamil Nadu Premier League in2016 and2017. He announced his official retirement from all forms of cricket in January 2023. In a career spanning more than 20 years, he scored more than 13,000 runs in all forms of cricket.
Vijay was born on 1 April 1984 inMadras,Tamil Nadu to Murali and Lakshmi.[2][3][4] He started playing college cricket at the age of 17 and was scouted by former Indian cricketerBharat Arun.[2] He was selected for theTamil Nadu under-22 squad for the 2004–05C. K. Nayudu Trophy. Vijayopened the innings and averaged 26.45 in six matches.[5] He was again chosen to represent the under-22 squad for the 2005–06 C. K. Nayudu Trophy and averaged 26.50 across three matches.[6] Based on his performances, Vijay was selected in the Tamil Nadu senior squad for theRanji One-day Trophy in February 2006 and scored 17 runs in his senior cricket debut in the last group fixture of the tournament againstKarnataka on 16 February.[7] He scored 38 in his second match, which was a quarterfinal loss to theRailways.[8]
Vijay made hisfirst class debut for Tamil Nadu during the2006-07 Ranji Trophy. He scored a fifty in his first-class debut againstDelhi.[9] He accumulated a total of 628 runs at an average of more than 52 including twocenturies and finished as the third highest run getter of the tournament in his debut season.[10] He continued his good form in the 2006–07 Ranji One-day Trophy and scored 277 runs in seven matches at an average of 39.57 with a high-score of 112.[11]
Vijay played in all seven matches of Tamil Nadu in the2007-08 Ranji Trophy and scored 582 runs at an average of more than 58. His season included two centuries including his high-score of 230* againstSaurashtra.[12][13] In the season, he was also involved in a 462 run partnership for the first wicket withAbhinav Mukund, which was two runs short of the Indian first class record of 464 runs.[14][15] On the back of his performances in the Ranji Trophy, he was named in theSouth Zone squad that competed for theDuleep Trophy.[16] In the debut match for the team againstNorth Zone, he scored aduck in the first innings and 39 runs in the second.[17] In the second game of the series againstEast Zone, he had a similar outing where he scored 46 in the first innings and registered a duck in the second while opening the batting.[18] In the2007–08 Vijay Hazare Trophy that followed, Vijay played seven matches in which he scored more than 300 runs with back-to-back hundreds againstHyderabad andAndhra.[19][20][21]
In September 2008, Vijay was picked in theIndia A squad to play against the touringNew Zealand A team in two four-day matches. He made 45 and 59 in the first match, helping the team win by 129 runs.[22] He opened the innings and scored 98 runs in the second match, in which India lost.[23] In October 2008, Vijay was named in the India Red team for theChallenger Trophy and finished second amongst the highest run-scorers of the tournament with 164 runs from three matches at an average of over 54.[24]
WhenAustralia toured India inNovember 2008, Vijay received his maiden call-up to theIndian team for the fourth test of theBorder–Gavaskar Trophy.[25] He made hisTest cricket debut atNagpur after he was selected in place of the regular openerGautam Gambhir, who had received a one match ban fromInternational Cricket Council (ICC) for elbowingShane Watson in the previous match of the series.[26][27] He was playing in a Ranji trophy match at the time and was called mid-way to make his test debut.[28] He made 33 and 41, contributing to opening stands of 98 and 116 respectively withVirender Sehwag. He also effected therun out ofMatthew Hayden andMichael Hussey during Australia's innings and caughtBrett Lee from the bowling ofHarbhajan Singh to take his first catch in test cricket.[29]
His defensive shots are so assured. And he looks comfortable of both front and back foot. And when he attacks, he doesn't go hard at the deliveries. I can see why this young man is playing.
Following his performance in his debut test, Vijay was selected for the IndianODI squad for the first three matches against the touringEngland team inNovember 2008. He was not selected in the playing eleven and was dropped after the first three matches upon the return ofSachin Tendulkar.[31] InDecember 2009, he played the third and final Test againstSri Lanka atMumbai.[32] He scored 87 runs in a 221 run partnership for the first wicket with Sehwag, which contributed to the Indian victory by an innings.[33][34] Vijay was selected for theBangladesh tour in January 2010 as a reserve batsman and made it to the playing eleven for the second test afterV. V. S. Laxman got injured. Vijay scored 30 runs in the second test atMirpur.[35][36] He was selected for the two testhome series againstSouth Africa afterRahul Dravid was injured.[37]
Vijay made hisODI debut in the third and final match against South Africa atAhmedabad on 27 February 2010 and scored a moderate 25 runs off 16 balls.[38] He made his full series debut during atri-nations tournament in Zimbabwe but fared poorly scoring just 46 runs across three matches.[39] Despite a poor series in Zimbabwe, his earlier performances were enough for him to be named in the Indian squad for the2010 ICC World Twenty20.[40] Vijay fared poorly scoring just 57 runs in four matches averaging below 15.[41]
Vijay was selected as the reserve opener for away series againstSri Lanka in August 2010 and scored 99 runs across the two test matches he played.[35] In October 2010, he scored his maiden test century when he scored 139 runs in the second test match ofAustralia's tour of India atBangalore.[42] Based on his performance in the test series, he was selected in the ODI team forNew Zealand's tour of India andIndia's tour of South Africa. He again fared poorly in the ODIs, scoring only 100 runs across six matches.[38] He played three test matches during theIndia's tour of West Indies in June 2011 but scored a meager 72 runs.[35]
"My main focus was on getting out of the habit of those scores of 30s and 40s because they really haunted me. I had a chat with my coach, Jaykumar, during which we came out with three points: shot selection, shot selection and shot selection. Nothing was wrong technically with my batting, it was only the shot selection that went wrong. Then it came down to fitness – whether I was throwing it away because I got tired? We worked on small aspects like that and it is paying dividends now."
Following poor returns in the last few series, Vijay was not selected to play for India till February 2013, when he was re-called to the side for thehome series against Australia.[35] He made back to back centuries in the second and third tests of the series and finished as the highest scorer with 430 runs including two centuries.[44][45] Vijay was part of the Indian squad that won the2013 ICC Champions Trophy but did not play a single match in the series.[46] He played in an ODI match again only in July 2013 in thetri-series againstWest Indies and Sri Lanka scoring 57 runs across two matches.[38]
After his performance against Australia, Vijay became a regular in the Indian test team and played consecutive away series againstSouth Africa andNew Zealand.[35] He played all five tests during thetour of England in July 2014 and was the top scorer in the series with 402 runs.[47] When Indiatoured Australia in December 2014, Vijay scored 99 runs in a 185 run partnership with his skipperVirat Kohli. The Indian team fell short by 34 runs while chasing a 364 run target in the fourth innings at theAdelaide Oval.[48] He scored 144 runs in the first innings of the second test inBrisbane which equaled the highest score by an Indian at the ground.[49] He scored his sixth Test hundred in theone-match Test series against Bangladesh in June 2015 and scored 210 runs across four matches in thehome test series against South Africa.[35] He played his last ODI match in July 2015 against Zimbabwe.[38]
In thehome series against England, Vijay scored 357 runs in five tests including two centuries in an Indian series victory.[50] He later played three tests in thehome series against Australia but scored just 113 runs.[35] In January 2018, he again fared poorly, scoring only 102 runs in three matches in theaway series against South Africa.[51] He scored his last test century in the lone test match againstAfghanistan in June 2018.[52] He played two tests in theIndian tour of England in August 2018 and scored only 26 runs with twoducks.[35] Despite his poor performance in the series, there were calls from retired Indian cricketers for him to be part of theIndian tour of Australia after his performances forEssex in the EnglishCounty Championship.[53][54] He played his last test match in the series atPerth scoring a duck in the first innings and 20 runs in the second.[55] He was later dropped from the Indian side and never made another appearance for the Indian team.[35][56] He announced his official retirement from all forms of cricket in January 2023.[57][58]
Vijay made his debut in theIndian Premier League for his home town franchise,Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in2009.[59] In the2010 season, he was amongst the top five run getters after scoring 458 runs to lead CSK to a first title win.[60][61] Vijay was the top run scorer in the2010 Champions League Twenty20 with 294 runs while CSK won the title.[62][63] He had another good season in the2011 IPL, where he scored 434 runs in the second consecutive title win for CSK.[64][65] Vijay scored more than 300 runs in each of the2012 and2013 seasons.[59]
In the2014 IPL auction, he was picked up byDelhi Daredevils.[66][67] He played two seasons for Delhi scoring 458 runs.[59] InApril 2016, he was picked up byKings XI Punjab and replaced South AfricanDavid Miller as the captain of the side in the middle of the2016 season.[68] He was the top-scorer for the team in the season with 453 runs.[69] He missed out the entire2017 season due to a wrist injury and was released by Kings XI Punjab.[70] In the2018 IPL auction, he went back to Chennai Super Kings and played only six matches across the next three seasons.[71] He finished with 2619 runs in 106 matches with two centuries in the IPL.[59]
Vijay captained theKovai Kings side in the first two seasons ofTamil Nadu Premier League in2016 and2017.[72][73] In2022, he returned to play a short stint forTrichy Warriors in which he scored 224 runs across four matches.[74]
Vijay is described as a stylish opening batsman.[75] He is a good timer of the ball and tends to prefer his fore-arm wrists to play the shots.[2] He prefers to play off his front foot.[44] His technique has been compared to that of former Indian batsmanVVS Laxman. He used an upright stance on the bouncy wickets outside India and adapted to play the ball late to counter the swing and seam movement. He has a good foot movement and is a better player of spin.[2] He is known for his ability to bat for longer periods of time without losing concentration, fetching him the moniker "The Monk".[1][75] He is known for scoringboundaries by hitting the ball in the air, over theinfield and down the ground.[44]
Vijay married Nikita Vanjara, who was earlier married to his Tamil Nadu teammateDinesh Karthik. The couple have two sons and a daughter.[76][77]
