Calcutta: To do well against South Africa in the Test series, India will certainly be banking on Murali Vijay for a sizeable contribution at the top of the order.
But as far as the opener himself is concerned, he doesn't want to think too far ahead and put himself under pressure. In an interview to a cricket-specific website, Vijay said that his focus would be on his batting basics, fitness and fielding.
"I'm pretty excited. The only one thing I'm concentrating on at the moment is my fitness. I'm on the right track and happy about it.
"But I am not thinking too far ahead because there's a month-and-a-half to go for the Test series. All I am trying to do is work on my batting basics, my fitness and my fielding... Where I am going to stand and so on..."
As a youngster, Vijay would look up to Mark Waugh, who opened mostly in ODIs and was a wonderful timer of the ball. "I always liked Mark Waugh because he made everything look easy.
"He played in a fashion where everything was in rhythm. I really liked him as a youngster," Vijay said, adding: "I had the opportunity to share the dressing room with some of the greats.
"I loved the way Sachin paaji carried himself throughout his career. I had a great opportunity to interact with him and see how he did things in different situations, so he inspired me a lot.
"MS Dhoni too was an inspiration for the way he handled himself in pressure situations. I didn't want to emulate Sachin paaji or MS. You have to pick and choose the best attributes from each of them and do it in your own style."
According to Vijay, the present Indian batting line-up is highly talented and there's healthy competition between the players. "Everybody is talented. It's a healthy competition.
"The season-and-a-half where we played abroad got us together. The thought process was similar and everybody wanted to go in one direction.
"A lot of good things happened to us. Even when we were losing, the atmosphere never changed. That's one good quality and a learning process for me as well, because no one even showed any hint of being down and out.
"Everybody is on the same wavelength and of the same age group... it's easy to crack a joke in a tight situation.
