Vijay makes an impression in Sehwags shadow

Going into the final Test with a 1-0 lead and with their bowlers having done remarkably well at Kanpur,the only concern for...

Going into the final Test with a 1-0 lead and with their bowlers having done remarkably well at Kanpur,the only concern for Team India was the gap left at the top of the order by the absence of Gautam Gambhir. And though the shoes left vacant by Gambhir may have seemed too enormous to fill,Murali Vijay did seem to fit right into them,hardly putting a foot wrong at the Brabourne Stadium.

On a day where Sehwag brought new-world machismo to a ground bathed in nostalgia,the 25-year-old opener hardly looked out of place.

His shots may have lacked the brutality of those of his senior partner,but Vijay looked at ease against both pace and spin,treating Muttiah Muralitharan with disdain. And it was with a huge six off Muralitharan that the right-hander brought up his first half-century in Tests. I never looked at the scorecard and just played my natural game. Murali is a great bowler but I have faced him quite a few times in the nets during the IPL, said Vijay,who is part of the Chennai Super Kings outfit.

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Vijay was finally dismissed for 87 in a partnership worth 221 when he tried to sweep Rangana Herath across the line to be trapped leg-before.

It was under similar circumstances that Vijay made his Test debut last year against Australia,where he put on crucial stands of 98 and 116 with Sehwag. On Thursday again he proved to be an able foil for Sehwag. Not surprisingly,almost every boundary of his received genuine applause from his senior partner. Viru takes the pressure completely off you and is also a huge calming influence, said Vijay.

Vijay was understandably disappointed at missing out on a century. I think it was a bad shot in the situation. Viru said later I should have batted on and scored a ton.