Vijay impresses with calm in the eye of the storm

It must have been the Sehwag effect; nothing else could have prompted M Vijay, playing his second Test, to bring up his maiden Test fifty with a six off Muttiah Muralitharan. For the record, Vijay issued a disclaimer - "I can't get influenced by Sehwag because I can't bat like he bats" - but with that one shot he announced his arrival. More than the daring, it was the youngster's composure, confidence and body language on the day that have probably vaulted him ahead of other contenders for the vacant batting slots when the Big Three retire.

That Vijay managed to make an impression through the mayhem created by Sewhag at Brabourne Stadium testifies to his innings - and also to his ability to stay calm. To an extent, Sehwag's assault on the Sri Lankan bowlers took the pressure off Vijay and gave him the freedom to express himself. It also helps that Vijay is no stranger to the Indian dressing-room - this may be his first Test since his debut last October against Australia but he's been an understudy ever since and this is his fourth series in the Indian squad.

So when he walked in as Sehwag's opening partner he knew his job was to be the sidekick. On a day like Thursday it becomes the easiest role to perform, and also offers the best seat in the house to witness Sehwag's innings. He could have been tempted to also go for the big shots but, barring the occasional rush of blood and slice of luck, he kept his head down, rotated the strike and allowed Sehwag to take centrestage. He was disappointed to lose out on a deserving century but admitted he fell to a "wrong shot".

It was a rare error for this technically adept batsman. Upright at the crease, he has a classical side-on stance with a high left elbow that precedes the marvellous batswing unravelled as he leans into his shots. There were a few beautiful strokes today, the best of which was a leaning cover drive against Murali; he picked the bowler quickly, moved into the stroke early and then leaned forward to punch the ball past the ropes.

He also displayed an ability to leave the short ball. Generally tall batsmen don't cut an impressive figure while fending off the short stuff but whenever he was bounced he assumed the correct position without losing his footing.

All of that was largely within his control - off his own bat, forgive the pun. His other main contribution was building an opening partnership with Sehwag by playing to his partner's strengths. Rotation of strike is one of the pillars of success of the Sehwag-Gautam Gambhir combine and Vijay happily moved to the non-striker's end at every opportunity.

He understands his current role is to warm the seat for Gambhir and doesn't mind it at all. "This is just a learning curve," he said. That accommodating nature could be to his advantage - the opening slots are booked for the long term but there will be slots lower down opening up over the next couple of years and Vijay could do worse than move to the middle order with Tamil Nadu.

He'd have to contend with the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Subramaniam Badrinath (not in any order) but he's stolen a head start with this innings.