Familiarity with English venues will definitely help, believes Murali Vijay

The 34-year-old scored his first overseas Test century (146) against England at Trent Bridge the last time India toured. While India failed to make any impact in the series, Vijay was one of the most successful batsmen for the team scoring more than 400 runs in the tour. Considering this fact, Vijay revealed that he liked playing against the talented English side and spoke about the importance of performing well in the first two games, as it would help India gain the much-needed momentum.

“England has been one side that has been very competitive and has got a lot of talent. I like playing against them. It is going to be a good challenge for us and we need to start off well as the first two games will set the standard of the series.” he added.

Batsmen, who have had a strong base and shown patience to leave the ball in England, have prevailed over the years. The English conditions have offered assistance to swing bowlers the most. And on being asked about the advantage he might have considering his strong leaving technique around the off-stump, Vijay gave a contrasting answer stating that he does not think much about the conditions and just focuses on performing well.

“I never focus much on the conditions and the opposition. I just go out there and react to whatever I face. The series victory is what we are looking at as a team and I will focus on performing well to achieve this goal,” Vijay said.

India played at Lord’s, Trent Bridge, The Ageas Bowl, The Oval, and Old Trafford the last time they toured England. Vijay stated that having four same venues as the last time will be very helpful for him and the team as well. He said that the familiarity makes you comfortable and one tends to perform better the second time around.

“Having familiar venues this time around will help us definitely. One tends to handle things better when experiencing it the second time. The same thing applies in sports as well. One feels comfortable and the feel-good factor is there,” he added. 

Vijay scored his 12th century recently against the first-timers (Afghanistan) which also became his third consecutive Test ton on Indian soil. He toyed with the bowlers, scoring 105 runs at a strike rate of 68.83. He achieved this feat post the Indian Premier League where he just got to play a single game for Chennai Super Kings.  

Speaking about his recent achievement Vijay revealed that he was not aware of it until the social media made it viral. He further spoke about his innings against Afghanistan and the ease with which he picked the bowlers, especially Rashid Khan who he thought was more effective in T20s and ODIs due to the consistency factor.

“I was not aware of it (three consecutive centuries) until the social media went abuzz about it. I still need to keep improving though,” said Vijay.

“My innings against Afghanistan was relatively an easy one. Unfortunately, their spinners did not execute that well. I had expected a better contest. Rashid bowled well initially but then we got used to him. However, he is lethal in the shorter formats with his ball-pitching ability and the consistency that he brings.”