After England, Murali Vijay Proves Mettle on Australian Soil

Murali Vijay fell one run short of his fifth hundred as India lost the first Test at the Adelaide Oval by 48 runs to go 1-0 down in the four-match series. (Scorecard | Blog)

Chasing 364, India looked set for an improbable win but Vijay's wicket gave Australia an opening. This would have been only India's sixth win on Australian soil. Their last victory came in Perth back in 2008 when they won by 72 runs. (Kohli Slams Twin Tons)

Vijay played a patient knock and looked set to get to a well-deserved hundred but appeared nervous as he played some rash shots against Nathan Lyon. Skipper Virat Kohli, who blazed away to his second ton of the match had a word with him but that did not ease Vijay's nerves. Moments after Kohli got to his 8th Test ton, Vijay played back to Lyon and was rapped on the pads and the umpire upheld a loud appeal for lbw.

Vijay was one of the few Indian batsmen to do well in England and he had shown his class there with a composed 146 in Nottingham and a classy 95 on a green surface at Lord's. In Australia, Vijay looked assured from the first ball he faced on Tuesday and five days later, followed up a solid 53 with a 99 that he would remember for a long time.

The stylish right-handed opener played a gutsy innings in every sense. He lost opening partner Shikhar Dhawan early and then saw Cheteshwar Pujara depart to Nathan Lyon. The Australian pacers were bowling with venom and Lyon was getting sharp turn from the final day surface. However, Vijay flourished in the company of an aggressive Kohli and was happy to play second fiddle, before opening up late in the second session.

He was a late entrant into the Test side and then struggled to make the opening spot his own in the presence of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. But now with both no longer in contention for Tests and his own game peaking on every tough tour, the 30-year-old from Tamil Nadu is set to rule that position for years to come.