There was some pressure on Indian opening batsman Murali Vijay coming into the fourth Test against England in Mumbai after a couple of poor performances in the previous two Tests.
At Vizag and Mohali, Vijay had scored just 45 runs in four innings and that was somewhat of a worry for the Indian side. Despite the string of low scores, the Indian team management backed the Tamil Nadu batsman, who has been one of the most reliable Test players for India in recent years.
Vijay answered his critics in style with a fluent century on Saturday – a knock that included 10 fours and three sixes.
Speaking after his knock, the 32-year-old admitted that he did feel that he was under huge pressure, but he backed his abilities having worked hard during the break between the Mohali and Mumbai Tests.
“It [pressure] was huge, but I back my abilities. I went back home and worked on my basics and came out strong today. I told myself to not think too much about it because I was getting out to short balls and there were talks about that,” said Vijay.
“I know that I am confident. The basic thing that I did was to have a clear mind when I walked into bat there. I know it was a phase and wanted to express myself.”
Away from the limelight, Murali Vijay has played a top innings. Class batsmen reverse trends with big scores.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 10, 2016
Vijay further added that when captain Virat Kohli came to the crease, the momentum was always with them and the urgency the duo showed between the wickets helped them build the Indian innings.
“Straightaway, the momentum was with us. We started to run for everything. The way Virat started his innings was fantastic and the way he ended it today was brilliant,” he said.
The right-handed opener feels that, despite two huge first innings scores, there is a lot of help for the bowlers on the surface at the Wankhede Stadium.
“The pitch is doing a lot and hopefully our bowlers can do a better job and get us some early wickets to put pressure on them,” he said.
India have a 51-run lead with three wickets in hand and two days left in the Test. With Kohli still at the crease, the hosts will be confident of negating the disadvantage of batting last on this pitch by building a big first innings lead.
