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India opener Murali Vijay is searching for opportunities in abroad countries, with the chances of an international comeback now looking remote.
Vijay had not played any form of cricket until last year when he returned to action in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) where he represented his team Ruby Trichy Warriors.
In the lead-up to the last edition of TNPL, Vijay said he had taken a break for personal reasons and now wanted to relish whatever cricket he plays.
Vijay played his last Test against Australia in the 2018 Perth Test while his last first-class game for Tamil Nadu was in the Ranji Trophy in December 2019.
38-year-old Vijay stated that he is almost done with the Indian team and is currently in search of opportunities to play overseas.
“Thanks to BCCI, I am almost done with BCCI (smiles) and looking for opportunities abroad. I want to play a little bit of competitive cricket,” Vijay said to former India and Tamil Nadu player WV Raman in a weekly show on Sportstar.
Vijay represented India in 61 Tests scoring 3982 runs at an average of 38.29, including 12 centuries and 15 fifties and was also the leading run-scorer in the 2014 England Test tour. He had also featured for India in 17 ODIs, scoring 339 runs at an average of 21.18 with one fifty while in his 9 T20Is, he scored 169 runs at an average of 18.77.
When asked about what it takes for an opener to succeed, Vijay said that you need to have the right skill sets and strong basics while being able to think out of the box.
“Being an opener you got to be a daredevil. So basically you’ve got to have the mindset of a go-getter and definitely I feel skill sets matter. You need to have sharp eyes, sharp understanding of gauging the length faster and the swing. So you should have these basics in you naturally as an opener.
“I feel openers are not made, you’ve got to work over a period of time to become a better opener but openers should have a basic brash approach to go outside and show the energy from the ball one with at the same time you’ve got to be compact, you go to be disciplined with your approach, you’ve got to be tight, so finding that balance as an opener is very important. I think with playing matches everybody will feel the experience and improve their game.
“At the end of the day as an opener you’ve got to be thinking a little out of the box and you’ve got to predict things, you’ve got to be at the same time not to predict and being in that reactive mode, so it is a balance you’ve got to find.”
While Vijay said he is always looking to promote young talent, he emphasised the need to change “people’s mentality” towards players on the wrong side of 30.
“After 30 in India, it’s a taboo (smiles). I think people see us as 80-year-olds walking on street. The media should also address it differently. I feel you are peaking in your 30s. Sitting here right now, I feel I can bat the best way I can. But unfortunately, the opportunities are less, and I got to search for my opportunities outside now.
“I honestly feel as a person, you can only do what’s in your hand. You can’t control the uncontrollable. Whatever happened happened.”
In his 135 first-class matches, Vijay scored 9205 runs at an average of 41.84, including 25 hundreds and 38 half-centuries. In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Vijay was an integral member of the Chennai Super Kings side winning the trophy in 2010, 2011 and 2018.
When being asked about how he would like himself to be remembered as a cricketer, Vijay said, “A quality player, that’s it. I don’t want anything else more. I just want people to remember that this guy was a quality cricketer.”
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