It has always been said that openers play a crucial role for a team in the series opener, but India opener Murali Vijay doesn’t want to think about the responsibility and burden.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Vijay said, “I don’t want to think too much about what will happen in a couple days’ time. I just want to prepare myself and be in a confident state of mind which I am at the moment, which is good for me and the team. Hopefully, we can get going on this wicket, whatever is thrown at us and put up our A game.”
He further elaborated, “You cannot have a set pattern. You cannot go into a Test match thinking that you are going to leave so many balls. You also have to be in a frame of mind where you also have to score runs. If they bowl in good areas then you have to try to counter and come out stronger. These are the things I think which will be critical for us to move forward.”
The pitch is expected to have grass on it, Vijay says the team has had the right preparation going into the series. He said, “We got some pretty good net sessions. In the back, e got some pretty good wickets as well. So we are used to it. It is more of mind games than physical touch. You have to be mentally prepared to match conditions because in the match it will be entirely different from whatever you replicate outside. We will be up for it.”
He further added, “It is quite green. I don’t know how it is going to behave on day one. Hopefully, it should be a good test match to be part of. We are looking forward to it and that is more important. Everybody in our dressing room is looking forward to the first day of play. Swing I think, because of bounce, personally I think I am able to manage bounce more. The ball swings around so it is difficult for any batsman to keep the shape.”
However, Shikhar Dhawan has been declared fit for the first Test and he even had a long session at the nets, Vijay did not wish to talk about the playing XI as he asserted, “Am not sure about the playing eleven, but he is fit and has declared himself fit so it is good for us going into this Test match. Hopefully, it is a good headache for the captain and the management.”
India opener Murali Vijay addresses the media at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.
Geplaatst door CricketNext.com op woensdag 3 januari 2018
While everyone is talking about the pacers, Vijay believes that the spinners will also play a crucial role and have to be at the top of their game. He said, “It is actually a very very important role because you have to support the fast bowlers as well. If you can bowl the spinners, they can come in big time and get a couple of wickets here and there, it will be a great help for us. We have quality spinners in our ranks and they can put up a good show.”
Graeme Smith has earlier conceded that South Africa is the hardest place for opening. And Murali completely agrees to the same, he said, “I have been here a couple of times. As you know the bounce and seam movement in these conditions is something really exciting for openers to go out there and perform. I agree with him, it is difficult but at the same time, you learn a lot of things. If you have some X-factor in your game, you can use it when you get into a situation like that next time.”
