MURALI VIJAY: CALM IN THE FACE OF STORMS

Belonging to an academic Tamil Family, it was challenging for Murali Vijay to live up to his family’s expectations in terms of studies. Being a young teenager, flunking in his Board examination was very disheartening and over that, it brought greater dishonour to his family. Due to all this, he took a big step and ran away from home and started working at a snooker place to make ends meet.

Murali Vijay started his cricket journey from his college at the age of 17 and worked hard to catch the eye of Bharat Arun to play junior-level and Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu. He made the most of these opportunities and stitched a 462-run partnership with Abhinav Mukund for the opening wicket in his first Ranji Trophy game, falling short of the world record by just 2 runs. After some consistent performances domestically, Vijay’s potential and hard work were recognized by the selectors and he was handed the Test cap against Australia in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Nagpur in 2008. He was good in the field and affected important run-outs of Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden to solidify his place in the team further. M Vijay’s strength lies in his strong grasp of the basics, including excellent off-stump awareness, playing close to his body, and watching the ball closely.

He hit a Test hundred against Australia in Bangalore in 2010, but due to a string of poor performances after that and the emergence of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag as a reliable opening pair, resulted in him being dropped from the team.

MURALI VIJAY’S IPL JOURNEY

Vijay made his IPL debut in 2009 and started strong.  He provided swift starts to the team consistently and hit his maiden IPL ton, scoring a 56-ball 127 in the 2010 season. He was so consistent that he ended up becoming the highest run-getter in the 2010 Champions League Twenty 20 in South Africa, which CSK Won. He was adjudged the Man of the Match in the final of the 2011 edition as his 52-balls 96 helped CSK defeat RCB to clinch the title. He then helped his team knock Delhi Daredevils out of the competition in the 2012 IPL qualifiers. He became part of a formidable opening pair with Michael Hussey and scored quite heavily till the 2013 season. He caught the Delhi Daredevils’ attention, who bought him for rupees five crores at the 2014 auction, but the deal fell through for certain reasons and he moved to Kings XI Punjab in 2015. He was appointed the captain of the side after giving a string of good performances. But he sustained a major injury in 2017, due to which he had to give the IPL a miss that year. After being bought back by Chennai Super Kings in 2018, Murali Vijay’s CSK journey came to end before the IPL 2021 auction as he was released by the team and went unsold.

M Vijay’s performances in Test Cricket

• He enjoys playing Test matches and has played 31 Tests scoring 2188 runs at an average of 39.78. He has played just 14 ODIs till now, last appearing in an ODI in July 2013.
• He made his Test debut for India as an opener in 2008 as a replacement for Gautam Gambhir, who was serving a one-match ban for an on-field altercation.
• He played his first full Test series against West Indies in 2011 but was dropped at the end of the series.
• After an ordinary 2011, he made a solid comeback in 2012 against Australia by hitting 167 in the first innings of the 2nd test and following it up with 153 in the 3rd test.
• These incredible centuries helped him cement a spot in the test team after 18 months.
• He played 13 Tests between 2013 and January 2015, scoring 1080 runs at an average of 41.53 with two hundred and seven fifties.
• In the last nine Test matches, 5 in England and 4 in Australia, he scored runs at an average of 49.11 that included two hundred and six fifties.

Personal Details

Murali Vijay’s Age and Background

Vijay was born on 1st April 1984 in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. He belongs to a Tamil family. His father, Murali, is a businessman and mother, Lakshmi, a housewife. His younger sister, Vidya, was outstanding in academics and later moved to the US to work for Google. Murali Vijay’s family consists of his wife Nikita Vanjara and their three kids. Nikita is wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik’s ex-wife. Murali Vijay's nickname is "MONK.” He got this nickname at the age of 16 when he had to turn to Old Monk to keep himself warm from Delhi’s biting cold, where he was on a tour with his team. His friends thus named him Monk after his tryst with the Old Monk. 

Murali Vijay’s Net Worth

After struggling so much and working hard on the field, M Vijay is finally reaping its rewards, with his net worth estimated to be a staggering $5 million.

Vijay is known as an extraordinarily talented and hardworking cricketer with a calm nature. Even after facing rejections and injuries, he always stood up to the challenges at hand and came back stronger than ever. His fans have high expectations from him and they would be hoping he would continue displaying his skill for as long as possible.

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