Ricky Ponting names Murali Vijay's replacement for the Boxing Day Test

Team India started off the Test series down under with a triumph in the first Test. The second game of the series seems to be evenly poised at the moment. The team has ticked quite a few boxes playing on the bouncy Australian pitches. However, the form of their openers has been the biggest matter of concern. Both Murali Vijay and KL Rahul have failed miserably leading to utter disappointment.

India’s main man in 2014, Vijay, hasn’t looked at ease in any of the three innings he has played in the series thus far. The 34-year-old has just been a walking wicket and the ways in which he got out aren’t really acceptable. There are already several demands of changing up the opening pair and it looks inevitable for the upcoming Boxing Test. Former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting went a step further and even asked him to be dropped and suggested his replacement.

It’s got to be Murali Vijay who goes

Ponting noted that he saw Prithvi Shaw striking a few balls in the outfield during the second Test. He said that Shaw was looking good and hoped that he would be fine before the next game kicks off. There is a good time gap between the second and the third Test which will give the 19-year-old some additional time to recover from the ankle injury.

“I think it’s got to be Murali Vijay who goes,” Ponting told cricket.com.au. “It was probably a bit of a bat-off coming into the series between those two. I saw him (Shaw) out in the outfield today hitting a few balls, starting to look like he’s getting around a bit better and with 10 days to go before the next Test you’d think he’ll come back in. So I think it’s got to be Vijay that goes out,” Ponting said.

Vijay only managed to score 11, 18 and 0 in the first three innings of the first two Tests. He also credited Mitchell Starc for setting Vijay up beautifully.

“We saw him get out twice in Adelaide to very similar shots; two balls from Starc that just pushed across, didn’t swing back in and he nicked both of those and he got the other one today that comes back through the gate. Give credit to Starc for the way he’s bowled to him,” Ponting concluded.

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