Ready for all formats, says centurion Murali Vijay

Photo: AP

Hyderabad: Ton-up India opener Murali Vijay said he has not given up hope on the possibility of representing India in all three formats.  

Vijay hit a classy century against Bangladesh on Thursday, his 9th in Test cricket. The Tamil Nadu right hander spoke about the aspects of his game that he worked on.

"As I am playing one format of the game at the moment, I have got a decent idea about it and hang of it. I want to give as many consistent starts as possible for India. I am ready for my opportunity in other two formats as well," reminding that he has not resigned to the fact that he is not considered for limited overs format.

Speking about the technical adjustments to become even more solid in front of the new ball Vijay said he worked on the art of leaving. 

 "See, I was playing at the balls that I should be leaving actually. I went back home and gave it a thought, came back to Bombay (England Test in Mumbai) and played in the way I would play rather than playing for the situation which was putting too much pressure on me. These are small things, I rectified in the Bombay Test," Vijay said at the post match conference.

On his strategy for the day, Vijay said: "To be honest, I was feeling good about my game coming into the series, Hopefully, I can carry that forward. I just saw the new ball for 4-5 overs, read the wicket. Then I thought, I can kind of play my shots and it came out my way today. It was two paced in morning session and in the afternoon it became slower."

The 32-year-old said the gameplan was to rely on instincts in certain situations and the team was well equipped to handle the short ball which Bangladesh slinger Kamrul Islam Rabbi dished out consistently.

"In international cricket, you expect that (short ball). It's more instinct rather than plan."

Vijay believes that it was purely because of Kohli, India scored nearly 20 runs extra with a whopping 63 runs coming off last 9 overs. 

"It's always a great sight to watch Virat play, the way he is playing at the moment. He has taken his game to a different level at the moment. End of the day, you can see we are 354 (356) and I thought 340 would be great. The 10-20 runs extra just happened because of him.

"The Way he was striking the ball was fantastic. After the new ball was taken, it came onto the bat more faster I guess. And I think he has a set game plan. It's working out well for him. Hopefully, he can continue to go on."