Murali Vijay compares his mindset to that of Cheteshwar Pujara

Right-handed batsman, Murali Vijay has had a roller coaster ride when it comes to finding his feet in Indian cricket. Once the foremost choice for opening the Test inning for India, he was not drafted into the playing squad in the first Test against Sri Lanka in the ongoing series. However, he found a place in the second Test and justified the inclusion by hitting a fluent century in his comeback game.

After the other opening batsman, KL Rahul was dismissed cheaply for an individual score of 7 in the second Test match between India and Sri Lanka, the duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay came the rescue. Vijay played a laudable inning worth 128 runs, before being dismissed by spinner, Rangana Herath. Pujara, on his part, remained unbeaten at a personal score of 121 at the end of the day’s play.

Murali Vijay talks about selection woes and Cheteshwar Pujara

When asked about how he deals with inclusion-exclusion sagas, the stylish batsman remained unfazed, “I feel as a professional you should always be ready whether you get a chance or not. You should be ready from inside, eyeing to get a chance. So whenever you get that chance, you are at least not lacking on that aspect (mental preparation). You can be fully aware of what’s happening and what’s going to happen. It is difficult but I am used to it by now. I just wanted to contribute whenever I get an opportunity to play for India,” said Vijay.

The Tamil Nadu lad went on to draw a parallel between himself and teammate Cheteshwar Pujara, with whom he stitched a fabulous partnership on the second day of the Nagpur Test.

“I like batting, so it does not matter who bats at the other end! Pujara also has similar mindset as he likes to dig in deep and scrap it out in situations of varied demands. So hopefully, we can continue to do it for India more number of times,” he said.

Vijay on why Test cricket should be respected

The upcoming South Africa tour has raised a storm of cynicism amongst the armchair critics, but Vijay is far from being affected by any of it. Speaking about his own mindset, he said, “I am a person who doesn’t like to overthink too much till I see that particular ground or venue. I don’t want to have preconceived ideas and plans. I like to take things as it comes. Yes, bounce is something, we have got one week to handle (before first Test starts). Everybody knows about it and we are working on it. I have few things to work on and I am at it.”

On being asked about the tough, unplayable spell that Rangana Herath bowled in the ongoing Test match, Vijay opined, “That’s Test cricket and you have to respect it. I think that’s how innings should be built. The easy way is being more aggressive and taking high percentage of risks. But they were bowling well and so we thought that we can buy time now and may be cash in at later half of the day.”