Murali Vijay backs India's batsmen ahead of Nagpur Test

Vijay and Pujara have been India’s most successful Test pair since January 2013

Ahead of India’s third Test against South Africa at Nagpur, batsman Murali Vijay sounded quite optimistic about the team’s batting line-up. His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan had failed to score in both innings of the first Test in Mohali.

According to a report in Mid Day, he said. “I don’t know (if) the batting is a worry for us because everybody is one match away from a big knock and this match may be the one. We are working as a pack. So obviously our goal is to win the game and put the team in a better position (when) we go in to bat.”

Vijay was successful in the Mohali Test with 75 and 47 runs in the first and second innings respectively. Talking about his own performances, the 31-year-old said, “My aim is to keep improving (with) every session and add value to the team.”

In the second Test, Vijay (28) along with his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (45) had provided India a solid start on day one before the rest of the match was washed out due to rain in Bangalore.

Another positive sign for India is the partnership between Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 230 out of India‘s 401 runs in the first Test. Since January 2013, these two cricketers together have scored 1486 runs in 25 innings with an average of 59.44 and three century stands, which is the best by any Indian pair during that period.

Talking about their partnership, Vijay said, “It is very important to know what your partner is up to.”

Virat Kohli was all praise for them. After Mohali Test, the Indian skipper had said, “We all are very proud of both of them, the way they batted in the last game. We can learn a lot from them, the way they applied themselves.

“The other batsmen didn’t apply themselves as much as we wanted to as a batting group, and we are aware of that. I think they kept us in the game throughout, and that is very important, two guys standing up in each innings.

“It is a nice feeling to see two professionals building a partnership, and it is always a good feeling to know that you have two guys in front who know how to score runs and who know what they are doing out in the middle.”