Murali Vijay: ‘Pune wicket was not poor’

"If the pitch does something extra, then I try to adapt to it. This is where technique comes into play. Yes, the Pune pitch was much more challenging, but I don’t think it was poor,” Vijay said

Published : Mar 01, 2017 16:32 IST , Bengaluru

Murali Vijay interacts with batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Wednesday.
Murali Vijay interacts with batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Wednesday.
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Murali Vijay interacts with batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Wednesday.

The Pune pitch used in the first India-Australia Test may have been given a "poor" rating by the ICC match referee Chris Broad, but India opener M. Vijay believes that international cricket is all about accepting such challenges.

“I go into a match with an open mindset. If the pitch does something extra, then I try to adapt to it. This is where technique comes into play. Yes, the Pune pitch was much more challenging, but I don’t think it was poor,” Vijay said here on Wednesday. “At times, we do need to play on such tracks, rather than playing on only flat or seaming tracks. It is actually a good thing to play on tracks like the Pune one, as it tests your abilities. Overall, it was a good game of cricket.”

The batsman was non-committal when asked for his views on the Chinnaswamy Stadium track . The second Test begins here on Saturday, and all eyes are on the playing surface that will be used. “It looks like a good wicket. Hopefully, we can put up a good show,” Vijay said.

At a practice session held here before the media interaction, the Indian players were engaged in a lengthy catching session. The team had put down quite a few chances in the first Test, with Vijay guilty of spilling one at leg-slip. “We had a chat about taking our catches in the team meeting. We have been working on it," he said.

Another area of concern for India was its use of the Decision Review System (DRS) . During Australia’s second essay, Virat Kohli and his men lost both their reviews by the 37th over to unsuccessful challenges.

In India’s second innings, openers Vijay and K.L. Rahul opted to use the review, and on both occasions, it proved to be futile. Having batted for just 5.3 overs, India was now left without a challenge to spare.

“At the moment, it is not going our way with the DRS. We have to use those 15 seconds better. We’ve spoken about this in the team meeting
as well,” Vijay said.

After that heavy 333-run defeat in the first Test, some of the Indian team members went on a trek in the Western Ghats. Vijay explained that the experience helped the players to get “closer as a team”. “We have been on the road for a while now, so these kinds of activities do help. We had a break for a couple of days, as the match finished early. We wanted to get out of our normal routine and get some fresh air,” he said.

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