Murali Vijay excited to be back in Chennai Super Kings once again
IPL
Murali Vijay, who was purchased by CSK at the IPL mega-auction, has stated that it has always been a pleasure for him to play for his local franchise and is excited to join the team soon. The opener has also added that he is looking forward to playing county matches ahead of India's England tour.
For all his majesty in the red-ball format, Vijay is still a novice when it comes to limited-overs internationals and has also not been a regular in the Tamil Nadu. Some pick and choose matches in the TNPL put aside, his white-ball cricket is mostly restricted to the Indian Premier League in which he has already led a team, Kings XI Punjab, with a fair amount of success. However, this time is going to be different as he returned to a side that he can call his own with vivid memories of that blistering 127 to go with. And as expected, he is quite happy about it.Â
"I always have a free mind. I'm blessed to have had some time off to get myself fitter and I'm really looking forward to this IPL stint. I'm ready to go. I want April 7 to come early," Vijay said during an event in Chennai on Thursday, reported TOI.
"It is a dream-come-true moment for me to be back with CSK. To represent the franchise and put up a show for them is always a pleasure. I'm good enough to do that. Hopefully, I can be consistent and contribute to winning causes," he added.
Vijay, after initial success with the Indian Test team, made a name for himself in the abridged version of the game only during his first stint with the MS Dhoni-led side, as he slammed two centuries and played an integral role in the title-winning feats of 2010 and 2011. Now back with the yellow army for the 11th edition, the Indian Test regular expressed his confidence that the team has the ability to recreate their past magic.
"The one good thing about playing for CSK is that we always put the team ahead of individual performances. Franchise-based cricket is very difficult because foreigners and domestic players need to have the right rapport to help the team play at a competitive level. We did it with ease in the past. That is going to be important from the start of the season, and hopefully, we can do it with more fun and flair," said Vijay.
Truth be told, from the strategy of the two-time champions, it was apparent that Vijay was not in their scheme of things at all and things became worse when no franchises showed any sort of interest in him on the first day where he went unsold. However, he finally got a bidder on the second day with Stephen Fleming raising the paddle to secure his services. His absence in IPL was already taken for granted by then and there were queries from several English counties on his availability for them.
"When I went unsold on Day 1 of the auction, a lot of county teams approached me. A county stint is definitely going to help us. We are all looking at it and hopefully, opportunities will open up for us to play a few matches before the England series. There is a process to undergo for playing in county cricket. It's not that easy. If teams are on the lookout for overseas players, only then can you get an opportunity to go and play,” he concluded.
