M. Vijay exemplified patience, especially while facing the short-ball onslaught early on, and tactical acumen, displayed vividly during his aggression against the England spinners, over the course of his superb ton in the fourth Test.
Dedicating his eighth Test century to the family of a close friend who had lost his father on the first day of the match, Vijay opened up about various aspects of the day’s play.
Excerpts
The state of the wicket: I think it’s a very true wicket for the Test format because everybody had to work on his game-plan, had to be very clear in mindset, to be able to deliver.
Everybody, especially the bowlers, had to work their plans out. It was a fantastic wicket to play this game on.
Kohli’s innings: I can’t actually comment on that because he is improving every day.
At the moment, all I can say is he is batting at his prime, which is great for us, and hopefully he can continue for a longer period of time.
Attacking Adil Rashid early on: Actually my game-plan is to attack the spinners because I don’t want them to settle in one particular area where they find it comfortable.
I just wanted to use my feet and the depth of the crease, and play according to my game-plan.
The difference between batting with Pujara and Kohli: We all understand each other’s game very well; the top-four at least.
So we know what exactly to do in the middle.
Whatever the situation is in front of us, we just need to stick to our gameplan and work in pairs.
Is India in control of the match? Definitely, yes!
Any lead is gold on this wicket. During Tea, we just thought (we would) get close to their score, but the way Virat and Jayant Yadav are batting, I think we are in a pretty good position.
His hundred: It is special because I started off well in this series. And then a couple of matches I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play; I was getting out too early.
I just came out in a much more clearer mindset in this game. And I just wanted to back my instinct and play.
The break between games: Definitely (helped), yes, the break helped me. And it helped everybody; to go and rethink and come back better.
Tackling short balls: I did think about it because I was playing at the balls I should be leaving, and there are lot of other factors to it. I don’t want to reveal them.
But, yeah, the definite game-plan is to back my core game, believe in it and come back fresh, and in play the way I wanted to play.
