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Home » Cricket Home » News » Happy Birthday Murali Vijay: Interesting Facts about the Indian Cricketer

Happy Birthday Murali Vijay: Interesting Facts about the Indian Cricketer

Vijay has so far played in 61 Tests, scored 3,982 runs, whereas he played in just 17 ODI’s scoring just 339 runs. His nine T20Is have produced 169 runs

Happy Birthday Murali Vijay: Interesting Facts about the Indian Cricketer

Murali Vijay is an Indian international cricketer who plays as a right-handed opening batsman. A regular member of the Indian Test team, he also represents Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit. Born on this day in 1984 in Madras (now Chennai), he went on to become an elegant batsman and one of the best Test openers in the world. Vijay is known for his sound batting technique and the ability to score runs in challenging conditions.

He started playing cricket at the age of 17. He initially played club cricket in the home city before he was selected in the Tamil Nadu Under-22 team. He made his first-class debut for the Tamil Nadu senior team in 2006 and emerged as one of the top run-scorers in his maiden first-class tournament.

He soon became famous for converting starts into huge scores and one of those big scores came in a 462-run opening stand with Abhinav Mukund. He landed his Test call-up in 2008-09, against Australia in the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in Nagpur, after the team’s regular opener Gautam Gambhir was banned for a match by the ICC.

Vijay has so far played in 61 Tests, scored 3,982 runs, whereas he played in just 17 ODI’s scoring just 339 runs. His nine T20Is have produced 169 runs. As national responsibilities remained limited, the Indian Premier League (IPL) provided him with another sphere of influence.

As the stylish opener turns a year older, here’s a look at some lesser-known facts about the cricketer:

• He initially decided to give up studying after failing his class XII exams. His family was particularly unhappy with his educational prowess, but Vijay decided that he had had enough and would go out to experience the world.

• After faring poorly in the exams and a stray remark from his father, he decided to leave home at the age of 17.

• He even worked at a snooker parlour for sustenance. He exercised, worked in the snooker parlour and even found time to nurture his passion by practicing cricket.

• He later went back to pursue his studies, cleared the board exams and went to Vivekananda College in Chennai. The college was well-known for promoting the sport.

• He got a first big disappointment when he was not selected for the Tamil Nadu team at the age of 21.

• Team India’s bowling coach Bharath Arun spotted Vijay’s talent. It was after Arun’s prodding that he joined the Chemplast team in Chennai’s club cricket league.

• Vijay is nicknamed as ‘Monk’ probably because of his calmness, patience and composure.

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RankTeamPointsRating
1 New Zealand 3198 118
2 Australia 3028 116
3 India 3085 114
4 England 4326 106
5 South Africa 2499 96
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RankTeamPointsRating
1 England 5405 123
2 India 6102 117
3 New Zealand 3716 116
4 Australia 4344 111
5 South Africa 3345 108
FULL Ranking
RankTeamPointsRating
1 England 6877 275
2 Australia 6800 272
3 India 10186 268
4 Pakistan 7516 259
5 South Africa 5047 252
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