There is absolutely no end to India opener Murali Vijay’s woes in overseas Tests this year. The right-handed batsman, who earned the nickname of Monk for his disciplined batting in tough conditions, looks like a pale shadow of his former self now. And his lean patch continued in the ongoing second Test against Australia too.
Vijay once again failed to get going and was out for a duck as Mitchell Starc castled him with an absolute gem of a delivery. It was the third over of the innings when Starc began laying out his plan by bowling an out-swinger to the right-hander. Vijay had no problem in letting the go behind the stumps. However, the India opener was not at all ready for the delivery that came four balls later.
Starc bowled a big in-swinger, leaving the Indian opener completely clueless. The ball went straight through Vijay’s defences to rattle the stumps as Starc let out a roar to celebrate a fine start to the Test after his poor outing in Adelaide. The ball was full, had pace and swing and could have dismissed any batsman let alone Vijay who is low on confidence after a string of poor performances this year. Vijay was expecting the ball to move away but it came back in, went through the bat-pad gate to disturb the stumps
Here is a clip showing Murali Vijay’s dismissal:
SEED! Mitchell Starc was fired up after this beauty to knock over Murali Vijay before the lunch break ?#AUSvIND | @Toyota_Aus pic.twitter.com/pgm50xJ8pG
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 15, 2018
Australia, meanwhile, have taken firm grip of the ongoing Test after making a solid start with the ball. Riding on fifties from Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch and Travis Head, the hosts piled up 326 in the first innings. India, in reply, have started disastrously, losing Vijay for a duck. At lunch, India were 6 for 1.
