It is important to believe in yourself and runs will come, reveals Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay had always found himself on the fringes of the Indian cricket team, until he was handed his Test debut in November 2008 due to the one-match ban imposed by the ICC on regular opener Gautam Gambhir. Since then the 34-year old has scored 3,701 runs in 54 Test matches at an average of 41.12. 

Vijay was part of the 2014 India squad that toured England and suffered a dismal 3-1 loss at the hands of the Britishers. But on the positive side, the right-handed opener scored his first century outside of India during that tour while he was also India’s leading run-scorer during that series with 402 runs from 5 matches.

As India gear up to travel to England in July later this year, Vijay has opined that the task ahead of Virat Kohli & Co. wouldn't be an easy one. The Tamil Nadu-born batsman was quick to highlight that batting in England has never been a simple task for foreigners.

"Even experienced players tend to struggle in England as the conditions are alien. Scoring runs in such conditions is a mental game and you have to be persistent. It is important to bide your time, believe in yourself and runs will come. That's what I have looked to do throughout my career," Vijay revealed in an interview with Cricbuzz.

Vijay added that it was more important to him that the team does well as a unit rather than his own individual performance in UK. 

"I have been telling people that it's about winning more than individual performances. You can perform well but at the end of the day if the team doesn't win (the series), then it doesn't give much happiness," Vijay added.

Vijay maintained that he still has the hunger to go and do well on the pitch for the Indian team while he also revealed that he would like to play a few games for his TNPL franchise before he left for the England tour.

"I tried going for different things (earlier) and it didn't work. I am in a state where I want to enjoy the game than set any targets. I believe I have the hunger to go, do big and that's more important.

"I really wish to play a few matches for my team before the England series but it will depend on the schedule and how things pan out," Vijay said.