India in Bangladesh: Murali Vijay Continues Purple Patch, Slams Well-Paced 150

Murali Vijay, who has been in splendid form over the last two years, scored his sixth hundred as India piled on a dominating 266/0 against Bangladesh on Day 3 of the one-off Test in Fatullah on Friday. Blog | Scorecard

Vijay reached the three-figure mark off 201 balls, with 10 fours and a six.

Vijay, who shared a double century opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan , was the more circumspect of the duo, but he picked up pace beautifully as the innings progressed. The Tamil Nadu batsman has been in brilliant form recently and has averaged 45.11 since 2013 before the start of this match. This phase included tough tours of New Zealand, England and Australia; Vijay was the top-scorer for India in England and was second only to Virat Kohli during the four-Test series Down Under.

The flat pitch and Bangladesh's mediocre bowling allowed comeback man Dhawan to explode early, but Vijay did not alter his style. The 31-year-old took his time settle down and picked up momentum gradually with some cracking drives and punches down the ground. Vijay scored one off the first 26 balls he faced and got to his 11th fifty off 98 balls - the landmark however, came off a slightly loose drive. Vijay, though, looked a lot more confident after getting to his half-century.

The long rain delay would have also helped - Vijay was on 33 when heavy showers forced an early lunch. After the intermission, as Bangladesh tied Dhawan down in the 90s, Vijay took over and kept the scoreboard ticking with some well-timed shots on either side of the wicket.