Scoring big on the pitch

Chennai: Thirty-one-year-old M Vijay started playing cricket at the age of 17. He started with club cricket in Chennai and was soon selected in the Tamil Nadu Under-22 team. In his debut first-class tournament, he was the highest run-getter, scoring 628 runs. From that point on, there was no looking back. In 2008, he made his first Test debut for the national side against Australia. Experts call him an elegant batsman, who has a wide array of shots. He has played pivotal knocks in T20 matches. The local boy got picked up by Chennai Super Kings, the star franchise with whom he was associated for six seasons. In the 2010 edition of IPL, he scored 127 runs (56 balls) during the T20 game against Rajasthan Royals, the highest individual score for any player in the entire season.

In fact, he was the most successful batsman in the 2010 Champions League T20. He now plays for Kings XI Punjab. Thanks to his classy performances, Murali Vijay became India’s opening batsman for tests in Australia during 2014 and 2015, where he emerged as India’s second highest run scorer. However, things were not very easy for this swashbuckling cricketer, when he started out. After he failed in his class XII exams, he walked out of his house and worked at a snooker parlour. He managed to play cricket, amidst all the struggle. He says that it was these experiences that has made him a stronger person. Murali Vijay will be seen in action during the upcoming Test matches against South Africa starting from November 5.

As told to Swati Amar