Murali Vijay | Murali Vijay Salam Century

Murali Vijay | Murali Vijay Salam Century

Apart from being the traditional curtain-raiser for the one-day season, the Challenger Series is also the platform where a number of players aim to impress the national selectors. And while there have been a few half-centuries by Ishank Jaggi and Harsh Khadiwale (on Thursday) and Saurabh Tiwary and Anirudha Srikkanth (on Friday), it was Murali Vijay who showed them how to drive the point home. The Tamil Nadu batsman smashed a 117-ball 104 to lead India Red to a comprehensive eight-wicket win against India Green at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium.



“An attacking batsman is not one who just plays a lot of aggressive shots, but one who manages to intimidate the bowlers,” Vijay had said during the Irani Cup, where he scored a confident 91. And while it was the turn of Sreesanth, Siddarth Trivedi and Ashoke Dinda to face the wrath of the Tamil Nadu opener on Thursday as he hit a quickfire 44 runs before falling to Harbhajan, it was a more mature Vijay — though he did explode towards the end — who finished off India Green. Vijay’s century included 10 fours and a big six over mid-wicket of Dhawal Kulkarni and by the time he holed out off the bowling of Chetnya Nanda, India Red needed a mere 21 runs for victory.