Vijay wants to cement his spot in all three formats
After playing 16 ODIs spread over a span of over five years since his debut against South Africa in 2010, Murali Vijay has finally earned a permanent spot as an opener in the Indian cricket team.
When he missed the catch of Brian Vitori at second slip in the opening match of the ongoing series, it seemed as though he had jeopardised his chances again but his career-best knock of 72 in the second ODI which sealed a series win for India, has strengthened his chances again.
"I've been there or thereabouts in the one-dayers and have been the third opener for quite some time, so this is a good opportunity for me to establish myself as a one-day player," Vijay said. "I always wanted to play this format and play all three formats. So it's just around the corner. You've got to wait your turn. I'm not in a hurry, but when I get an opportunity I'm keen to score runs”, Vijay said.
After maintaining an average of 42.70 in List A cricket and being one of the most consistent Indian bastman in the Test squad in the years 2013 and 2014, it is hard to comprehend why it took so long for Vijay to earn a spot in this format.
"[There are] a lot of variables. I don't want to think about it now because it's done and dusted - for me this is a new beginning and I'm looking forward to the opportunities coming for me. I think I'm batting well, which is more important, and I'm enjoying my cricket, so whichever format doesn't matter to me so long as I'm batting”, said the 31-year-old-batsman as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
Until this day, there were six such occasions where Vijay had scored more than 25 without crossing the score of 33. Although he was happy to score a half century, he believed that he should have scored more in the match against Zimbabwe where he was dismissed after scoring 72 in 95 balls.
"It's not really [a good return] but I'm enjoying my game so I'm not looking too far ahead. As long as I'm enjoying my cricket I think everything will fall into place. To be honest I was not playing at my best, but according to the conditions we decided not to give early wickets because then the team is under more pressure. We thought 260 or 270 was a good score on this wicket because it was getting slower and lower”, Vijay added.
Vijay’s opening stand with Rahane was what allowed India to reach an unassailable score of 271 and post a 62-run victory against zimbabwe at Harare. Although he could not achieve the feat of reaching his maiden ODI century, he was happy that he could deliver according to the gameplan.
"You saw in the first game we had a bit of a collapse, so we thought rather take time and play our game, so that we give the middle order an opportunity to come and do their job. We did that," he said according to the website.
Murali Vijay has scored 326 runs in 16 international matches with an average of 21.73.