Overseas tours helped Indian team bonding, says Murali Vijay
Indian opener Murali Vijay feels the successive overseas tour has helped the bonding in the Indian team, ESPNCricinfo reports. The 31-year-old added that the coaching staff has played a crucial role in maintaining a healthy atmosphere despite not enjoying much success away from home.
India are set to play their first Test series on home soil for more than two years when they take on South Africa in a four-Test series in November. During the above period, India have toured South Africa, New Zealand, England, Australia and Sri Lanka. India ended up on the losing side on each but one of the above series, with the recent 2-1 series victory over their Asian counterpart being India's first overseas victory since 2011.
Despite the losses, Vijay revealed that the long time spent away from home has helped in increasing the cohesiveness in the team.
“To be honest, the season and a half where we played abroad got us together," Vijay told ESPNcricinfo. "The thought process was similar, and everybody wanted to go in one direction. So, a lot of good things happened to us. [Even when we were losing] the atmosphere never changed. That's one good quality and learning for me as well because no one even showed any hint that he was down and out. Everybody thought we could change from this session [phase].
"Because everybody is on the same wavelength and the same age-group, so it's easy to crack a joke in a tight situation. As a unit, we are tighter now. It's a good journey for us. Staying away from home gave us an opportunity to mingle together and go about things in a right way."
Injuries to Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay himself during the Sri Lankan tour meant India played with KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara as makeshift openers, a role which they played with perfection scoring a century each, with the latter's knock of 145 helping India win the deciding Test match at Colombo.
The developments in Sri Lanka has made the opener's slot for the upcoming series an interesting one, but Vijay is only happy at the competition for places. The Chennai-born cricketer has forged a formidable opening partnership with Dhawan and he spoke of the pair’s mutual understanding.
"It's been unbelievable because everybody is talented. It's a healthy competition," Vijay said. "I never think that way [about outscoring others]," Vijay said. "If Shikhar is getting runs, I would like to give him the credit like 'you are batting brilliantly' and vice-versa. That's what he does to me. There's nothing like 'you get 150, I get 180.' It's about going together and going for the same cause."
Vijay praises Indian coaching staff
The BCCI recently extended the contracts of India team director Ravi Shastri and the three assistant coaches until the 2016 T20 World Cup and Vijay is all praise for the quartet for providing the team with a free mind to focus on their game.
"They have really helped us in getting a good atmosphere in the dressing room because I feel you should be feeling comfortable inside the dressing room to do well outside,” Vijay said. "Ravi bhai has his own style of putting it across. [He lifts the mood] 100 percent. Just the energy you get onto the table. At the right time, I think, he has come. It's all fallen in place. Obviously, B Arun and R Sridhar as well [have been great]. Everybody is trying to do his best to give us the best atmosphere."
Vijay is especially close to batting coach Sanjay Bangar, with the former all-rounder being the coach at his IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab. The opener said that he has always enjoyed a cordial relationship with Bangar.
“We always try to have a conversation about batting because he's one guy who is never tired of talking about a particular aspect," Vijay said. "More or less everybody, when we are off [the field], we keep discussing, 'Oh, we could have done this, we could have done that.' He has always been there for us, which is good," he said.
An injury forced Vijay to miss the first and third Test against Sri Lanka, but he is confident that he be fully fit in time for the series against the Proteas and is looking forward to the challenge.
"Actually, I'm pretty excited [about the South Africa series] and only one thing I'm concentrating at the moment is my fitness," Vijay said. "I've been working on my rehabilitation. So, I think pretty good three weeks. I am at a good state now. I'm on the right track at the moment and am happy about it. But, I am not thinking too far ahead because there is a month and a half to go for the Test series.”
"Missing couple of Test matches [in Sri Lanka] is a tough time for me, but cannot think over it or something like that because injuries do happen in any sport. All I am trying to do is work on my batting basics, my fitness and my fielding aspect of where I am going to stand," he added.