Plan was to attack spinners, not let them settle, reveals centurion Vijay

After putting India in a strong position in the fourth Test against England, Indian opener Murali Vijay on Saturday revealed that his game plan was to attack the spinners and not let them to settle down, which eventually worked.

Resuming at on overnight score of 148-1 on day three here at the Wankhede Stadium, Vijay smashed ten boundaries and three sixes in his 136-run knock, which was his eighth hundred in Tests, third against England and second in this series.

"My game plan was to attack the spinners, because I didn't want them to settle in one particular area where they find it comfortable. So, I just wanted to use my feet, the depth of the crease and play according to my game plan. It came out pretty well I think," Vijay told the reporters.

 

After first drop Cheteshwar Pujara got dismissed for 47 runs, Vijay joined forces with in-form Kohli (unbeaten at 147) and shared a solid 116-run stand for the third wicket to propel his side past 400-run mark.

Reflecting on their partnership, Vijay insisted that he and Kohli played some good cricket, while pointing out that his side's top-order batsmen understand each other's game pretty well.

"They didn't bowl really well in patches. But, I personally think that Virat and I played really well. One main thing is that we all understand each other's game pretty well - the top four, at least. So, we know what we need to do exactly in the middle. Whatever situation is in front of us, we just need to stick to our game plan and work our best," he added.

Vijay had scores of 20, 3, 12 and 0 in the four innings of the next two Tests in Visakhapatnam and Mohali, respectively. However, he silenced his critics this time by smashing a brilliant ton.

When asked what worked in his favour, Vijay said he headed into the fourth game with "a much clearer mindset" and just tried to back his strength which came out very well.

"It is special because I started off well in the series, but in couple of matches, I couldn't play the way I wanted to. I was getting out too early. I just came out with much more clearer mindset in this game and just wanted to back my strength and play," the opener said.

The third day of the fourth Test also saw Kohli keeping England bowlers at the bay and breaking many records.

Indian batting mainstay, Kohli, not only notched up his 15th Test century, he also reached the 4,000-run mark when he crossed 41 during the match. He has reached the milestone in his 52nd Test and became the sixth-fastest Indian batsman to reach the figure.

At the end of the day, India were at 451-7 and took a 51-run first innings lead, with Kohli and Jayant Yadav (30) batting at the crease.