Team India opener, Murali Vijay has penned a deal with defending champions Essex for the remainder of the County Championship season.
Meanwhile, the selectors dropped Vijay from the last two Tests against England owing to poor form. The Tamil Nadu opener will be keen to hit back to storm back to the national side.
Murali Vijay played the two first two Tests against England and had to sit out at Trent Bridge. Vijay scored a total of 26 runs from four innings including a pair in the second of the games. However, he harbors hopes of overcoming the rut at a ground he recently scored a 53 during India’s pre-series warm-up clash.
“I was here with the India side about a month ago and saw first-hand just how good the crowd is. I can’t wait to play for Essex and hopefully win some matches,” Vijay said.
Murali Vijay, meanwhile, will be the third Indian player to sign for Essex.
Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir have previously represented the south-east county. Vijay along with Alastair Cook will bolster Essex, who has had an average campaign this year.
Essex Head Coach Anthony McGrath expressed his thrill to have Murali Vijay in the team. He also added that his experience and ability to score runs will help them in the remaining games.
“We’re delighted that Vijay has chosen to come here. He’s a great batsman who can score runs at the top of the order,” he said. “Vijay’s run-scoring ability means he can be the difference-maker in a game. The campaign is coming to an end and we have some really big games over the next month, so getting someone in with the experience and international quality that Vijay possesses could make all the difference for us,” Anthony added.
Essex have won four games and lost the same number of games after the first 11 games of the season. With three games remaining in the season, Essex are fourth in the table with 121 points, trailing leaders Surrey by 97.