Indian Test opener Murali Vijay has undergone some testing time in the last few months. A series of failures led to scores of 6, 20 and a pair of duck in his previous two Tests before he suffered the axing from the team.
Vijay was a part of the Indian team that played the five Tests in England earlier this year but he only managed to play the first two Tests before he was asked to make way for other players.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) then decided to ask Vijay to play in the County Cricket and soon he was signed by Essex Cricket. It did not take much time for Vijay to settle down as he went on to register scores of 56, 100, 85, 80 and 2 in the three First-Class matches he played for the club.
Hence, there were no surprises when he was included in India’s Test side that is touring Australia later this month.
Speaking to Times of India about how he has conquered the tough times, Vijay said, “I never went to play County to get back into the Indian team. I felt it was important to get some runs and play good cricket. It so happened that I could do well (there) which gave me that bit of an extra chance to get back into the side
His previous Australia tour was more than decent. He scored 482 runs from four matches and Vijay is hoping to better that.
“This time we have planned well and we will get practice games before the first Test in Australia. So it is going to be ideal and hopefully, our boys can gel as a team and put the best foot forward.
Australian spinner Nathan Lyon was Vijay’s arch-rival that series, who dismissed the Indian opener on 99 in the first Test and got him out in the second Test as well.
“You can’t allow a bowler of Lyon’s caliber to settle into his rhythm. We both had a good competition going on (the last time we played), and it will great to once again take up the challenge,” Vijay added.
After Vijay suffered a wrist injury and underwent surgery in April, he has had tweaked his training methods.
The new development is that Vijay no more trains full-fledged on the eve of a game.
"I understood my game more during that time. Sweating it out just immediately before the game wasn't helping me,” he said.
