Hamstring worry for M Vijay

M Vijay

India are fretting over the fitness of their opening batsman M Vijay ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka scheduled to start on August 12 in Colombo. Vijay, India’s most accomplished Test opener currently, is suffering from a hamstring niggle and will have to prove his fitness before the first Test which will be played in Galle.

India are set to play three Tests in Sri Lanka in the tour that starts with a three-day warm-up game on August 6 in Colombo.

It will be a surprise if Vijay gets fit in time for that warm-up game but his importance to the Test team was recently emphasized by the captain Virat Kohli. “In Test matches he has been a very solid opener for us, especially after the pair of Sehwag and Gambhir that we had, he is the one who has given us lot of stability at the top of the order,” Kohli said in an interview to BCCI.TV.

Career hiccups

“Everyone has a few hiccups in his career, all of us are involved in that bracket and all of us have gone through it. The best thing about him is that he is mentally very strong. Has a lot of patience, a very solid character and is very sure of himself and of his game. He has always been a very very solid opener for India,” Kohli said.

Vijay has averaged 51.53 in the Test matches in the last one year and averaged 44.79 in sixteen Tests in the last two years. He has scored runs across the world and proven himself to be India’s best Test opener.

The Test matches will be played at Galle (August 12-16), Colombo Oval (August 20-24) and SSC Colombo (August 28-September)