"I Didn't Get The Freedom Of Virender Sehwag To Be Honest; Whatever He Got In His Life, I Didn't " - Murali Vijay

Updated - 17 Jan 2023, 11:25 AM

Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag (Image Credits: Twitter)

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Former India opener Murali Vijay believes that if he had received the same kind of support as Virender Sehwag, his career would have taken a different turn. Vijay didn’t play an international match for over four years, and the last Test match was against Australia in Perth in December 2018. The right-handed batter has not played in an ODI or T20I match since 2015.

Virender Sehwag scored two triple centuries and six double centuries, making him one of India’s greatest openers in all formats over the years. Regardless of the opposition or the format, Sehwag redefined the game of cricket by consistently challenging the bowlers. Murali Vijay have also been very reliable and equally effective and despite having different style of play.

Virender Sehwag and Brett Lee. Photo-Getty

When Sehwag Was There, I Felt Controlling My Instincts – Murali Vijay

Speaking to the former Indian women’s team coach WW Raman, Vijay said he didn’t get the freedom to try different things like Sehwag. The Tamil Nadu batsman said that he controlled his natural aggressive instincts, and it was amazing to watch Sehwag bat from the other end.

“Consciously, I didn’t get the freedom of Virender Sehwag to be honest. Whatever Sehwag got in his life, I didn’t. If I could have got that kind of backing and open-spreaded talks, I could have also tried. The honest thing is the team’s backing and how you can contribute to the team in international level. It’s a high-level competition and you don’t have many chances to experiment different ways,” Vijay said.

Murali Vijay, Indian Player — Murali Vijay (Image Credit: Twitter)

“You’ve got to be consistent so you’ve got to have everything as a package and how you’re going to mould yourself to the team’s demand. When Sehwag was there, I felt controlling my instincts and playing was hard but to see him go through that kind of freedom was something spectacular,” he added.

His Mantra So Simple – See The Ball And Hit – Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay praised Virender Sehwag’s batting style and said that his mantra was “see the ball and hit it.” Vijay believes that he had the privilege of playing with Sehwag.

“Only he could have done that. Nobody else I feel could have played like Sehwag. What he did for Indian cricket was amazing. Different… he is something else which I have seen visually. I had the privilege to interact with him. It was so simple. He kept his mantra so simple – See the ball and hit. He was in that mode; singing songs to 145-150 kph bowlers. You are experiencing something else. It’s not normal,” he concluded.

Vijay has represented India in 61 Tests, 17 ODIs, and 9 T20Is. In Tests, he has scored 3982 runs at an average of 38.29, including 12 centuries and 15 half-centuries.

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