JOIN USThe Pune pitch on which India caved in inside three days in the first Test against Australia has been receiving strong criticism. A day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) termed the surface poor and sought a response from the BCCI, Indian opener Murali Vijay struck a different note.
The right-handed batsman backed the surface and asserted that it was not the worst of pitches that he has played on. Vijay, who struggled with scores of 10 and two in the game, said it was a challenging track that tested the abilities of the batsmen. “I don’t think it was a poor wicket. It was a challenging surface from ball one. I don’t go into a match seeing the wicket. I play with an open mindset and if the wicket does something extra, then I try and adapt to it,” Vijay explained on Wednesday.
Vijay said the players need to be ready to play in all kinds of conditions. “As cricketers, we need to play in such wickets than playing on just flat tracks or seaming wickets.
According to me, it actually is a good thing to play on such tracks as it tests your abilities and overall it was a good game of cricket.” The Australian spinners outshone their Indian counterparts, setting up the thumping win for their team. Vijay though defended the Indians’ performance and felt conceding a big first innings lead put India on the backfoot.
“It was more about the mindset. We gave away a first innings lead more than what we had expected. From there on it was always going to be tough for us to get back into the game. It was a great effort from our bowlers to bowl them out for 260 and give the batsmen a chance to put up a big total,” he said.
Vijay also touched upon India’s comeback under similar circumstances against Sri Lanka in 2015. After their humiliating defeat in the first Test in Galle, India re-grouped to enjoy a sensational run that took them to the top of the ICC rankings.
“Definitely there are similarities (between the two series). We are currently thinking about our own game and we have put our opinions open in the team meetings. That’s what we have done in the last couple of days. Hopefully we can come in with a better approach and start with a positive frame of mind from ball one,” he noted.
India’s struggles with the Decision Review System (DRS) was evident in the first Test. Vijay hoped the team comes to grip with the method soon. “At the moment it is not going our way. We have to take a little more time and we have to use those 15 seconds much better,” he said.
DH News Service