Two of India’s Test-match specialists showed the importance of their old-school methods to haul their side into contention at Rajkot
Alagappan Muthu in Rajkot11-Nov-20163:19
Ganguly: Vijay is India’s No.1 opener
Could he hear the rumble, way out there in the middle of the pitch?Could he hear anything over his heartbeat batting on 99?And how was there so much noise? The crowd was decent, yes, but nowhere near capacity.Cheteshwar Pujara could certainly charm the cricket ball. But could his powers extend to other inanimate objects? Because it wasn’t so much a case of if the walls at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium could talk, they were already bloody screaming.Rajkot rose and fell with one man. India rose and rose with two.M Vijay is a bit under-rated. Commentators often associate him with his leave, and while that is a superb skill for an opening batsman, it is a bit unfair. When he drives the ball – along the ground and over the top – it leaves you breathless. Imagine a saucy wink from the woman you’re courting. When he flicks the ball – into an arc as wide as backward square leg to mid-on – it looks so natural. Imagine breathing. It’s silly that people are surprised when he plays a shot well.He is especially effective in partnership with Pujara. In Tests, they are the most prolific pair Indian cricket has seen in a decade. It was because of their efforts that England’s mammoth lead of 537 had been cut down in half. And that was nothing new.Vijay and Pujara have put on 2081 runs together in 32 innings. The additions they make to the scoreboard, though, is simply the most tangible assessment of their worth.Both men, typically, like to bat time. Dot balls rarely perturb them. The opposition screeching at their ear doesn’t often matter. They get inside a bubble, which probably stops a sledge and then turns it into a melody before it reaches their brain. One of the features that makes the Vijay-Pujara partnership so important for India is that they blunt the new ball so that their team-mates down the order, for whom the mandate is to attack, can do so as freely as possible.Let’s say India are on tour – just to make things harder for our protagonists – and have conceded a big total. Over 500. Then they lose an early wicket. Vijay and Pujara get together. Neither of them can afford to be dismissed cheaply because that would mean Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane – two players who are most effective when they have the chance to dominate – have to bat within themselves and with a voice in the back of their heads giving them bad company. “If you get out, if you make one mistake, it won’t be too long before the tail is exposed.”So Pujara and Vijay take their time, absorb the pressure, dull the threat of the opposition bowlers and set the innings up. Sound familiar?Adelaide 2014. They came together at 30 for 1 with Australia having put up 517, batted out 22.3 overs so that India’s captain could come in and dictate terms. The same thing happened in the second innings. Vijay and Pujara dug in for 15.1 overs to take India from 16 for 1 to 57 for 2. Vijay went on to make 99 and, alongside Kohli, nearly pulled off a chase for the ages.But that was a flat pitch.M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara rehydrate during the drinks break•AFPLord’s 2014. The pitch was indistinguishable from the outfield. India lost the toss. England put them in. James Anderson and Stuart Broad were a blur of arms and legs obscured by smoke as they fought to get hold of the ball. Vijay and Pujara did not make big runs but they did shield the middle order, playing out nearly 20 overs together. That meant India’s eventual centurion Rahane only had to come in after the first session, when conditions were perhaps a little better. Just a little.In Adelaide, when India learnt they could frighten Australia, when they beat England at the home of cricket for only the second time in 82 years, and before that, in South Africa, on India’s first overseas tour since the whitewashes in England and Australia (not to mention the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar), Vijay and Pujara scrawled their names on the wall as if in a scene out of .”Both of us have been playing Test cricket for India for a long time,” Pujara said. “And especially, me and him are the ones who are just playing this format particularly. We spend a lot of time, not just on the field but also talking about the game, talking about this format.”Sometimes, it is difficult for a player who is just playing this particular format because when we’re not playing the other formats, you don’t get quality practice or you’re not in touch with the game. We have played some domestic matches in the free time after the New Zealand series and we were there at the NCA to train before this series started.”So I think it’s the communication which keeps us going. We know each other’s strength, we know what the opposition is trying to do and we always try to communicate. I think that’s the most important thing about this batting unit, not just communicating with Vijay, but communicating with other players as well.”The bond they have was easy to see. They batted, and trained together, two days before the Test. They shared details of which way the ball was swinging and updated their partner if England were shifting plans, like when Stuart Broad began bowling cutters in a spell of 5-4-1-0. The embraces as they celebrated their respective hundreds. Heck, Vijay was so desperate to get across and relieve Pujara of the strike when Chris Woakes was bouncing him that there was nearly a run-out.India seemed like they might get through the day losing only one wicket. But Ben Stokes broke through and Pujara was walking back, saddened he couldn’t get the double-hundred he had set out for, annoyed he had just steered the ball straight to Alastair Cook at a wide slip. But here too, he had his partner’s help. Vijay ran all the way over and put his arm around Pujara consolingly.India’s success in a long home season will definitely depend heavily on their bowlers’ ability to take 20 wickets each Test. But for this match, for the rest of the series against England, and even for the one against the Australians next year, Vijay and Pujara will be vital.
