Will and grace

Happy hunting

Before that,for the 30,000-plus weekend crowd,the day was spent banging the tin advertisement boards that line the top tiers of the pavilion,waving flags or generally shouting themselves hoarse. After a slow opening session,Hyderabad treated itself to biryani at lunch,and that was followed by a hearty batting feast. In the stands,in that uniquely mixed-musical way of speech,they would regularly get lyrical,praising Pujara and Vijay. And every time they did that they would get a couple of acknowledgements,an old local tradition,from someone in the vicinity. An exaggerated clap and that evergreen hau re.

Of late,Hyderabad has learnt a new cricket chant. Pu-ja-ra,Pu-ja-ra,the stadium roars,once Indias new No. 3 walks into the ground. His first Test hundred,159 against New Zealand,was at the same venue in August last year. Today the discomfort of a muscle strain did give him a limp all day but when in the crease,he was a picture of grace and solidity. Such was Pujaras overwhelming domination of the Australian attack that his highest Test score of 206 could be under serious threat on Monday. For Vijay,the same feat is easier since he is just 10 runs away from his previous Test highest of 139.

When Pujara and Vijay take the field on Day Three,it will be around the same time they met each other on the pitch today. The partnership that kicked off after Virender Sehwag was out in the days fifth over had a tentative start. They werent edgy in terms of timing the ball or judging the length,but their running between the wickets was indecisive.

From their styles of play,they seemed to be making a larger point. Vijay,who was out to outlandish shots in Chennai,was playing the waiting game. He left balls and didnt mind long spells at a low scoring rate when he couldnt find his way through the crowded infield. Pujara,who sat on the bench for most of the ODI series against England,wasnt missing any chance to score briskly. His dodgy knee didnt allow him to rotate the strike fluently but he still reached each milestone before his partner,who came into this innings with a reputation for hitting big strokes.

At the crease,the two were a study in contrasts. Vijay was fidgety and struck up conversations with fielders around him. For Pujara,the stumps were a banyan tree and his batting some new-age power meditation. Following different paths,the two would reach a state of blissful batsmanship that would break the Aussie hearts.

Not just today,even in life,their journey to the Indian dressing room hasnt taken the same route. Pujara,even as a 6-year-old,had mini-pads and tiny gloves and faced a hard cricket ball. Vijay first played competitive cricket in his late teens. The formers father is aware of every single muscle movement that goes into his sons batting; the latters parents havent ever been seen on a cricket field.

Glaring difference

Pujara found an early place for himself under the sun by scoring a triple hundred in a nondescript U-15 tourney; Vijay made headlines in fluorescent sunglasses and canary yellow vest under the IPL floodlights. At 28,Vijay has had disciplinary issues; Pujara,24,is perceived as the more mature batsman. Insiders speak about their different evening routines. One can be seen all dressed up in the hotel lobby after dusk; the other keeps to his room. The outgoing Chennai boy addresses even strangers as bro. Pujara,meanwhile,hails from a state where everyone is bhai.

But both Pujara and Vijay have a reputation of scoring big on the domestic circuit. Thats bad news for Australia but not for the Hyderabadi,who would acknowledge it with a ready clap and a hau re.

Same lengths,different responses

tons of chalk and cheese: Murali Vijays 129 came at a strike rate of 44.79,and Cheteshwar Pujaras 162 at 64.54. For anyone whos followed their careers superficially,this would seem like an inversion of their normal styles of play. But to label Vijay a flashy aggressor and Pujara a dogged accumulator would be to miss the point entirely. Vijays reputation comes from his ability to drive the ball on the up one of the more eye-catching strokes in the game and he duly hit 13 boundaries from good length deliveries. Pujara only hit six such balls for four.

But he was able to score as freely as he did because he was ruthless against the short ball. Where Pujara pulled or cut 9 such deliveries to the fence and hooked one beyond it,Vijay barely played any horizontal-bat strokes. Pujaras attacking play against the short ball and Vijays studious avoidance of them by swaying away or ducking underneath showed two batsmen who knew their respective games very well.

Karthik Krishnaswamy