The track at Kanpur for the first test wasn’t precisely a batsman’s paradise, but it was still much better than what the current Indian scorecard suggests. The hosts, who did themselves a great favor by winning the toss, were in a great position at lunch. The ever-reliable duo of M. Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara did all the hard work and were all set to convert their starts.
It was in the second session where the Indian batsmen lost their focus and played some questionable shots that lead to their downfall. The shots played by superstar batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were ordinary to say the least. Despite being 291-9 at stumps, opener M. Vijay feels that the hosts are in a relatively good position and have a decent total on board.
“I think we are in a good position,” said Vijay. “We have put the runs on the board. All we got to do now is to go there and put pressure on them while bowling. It is a good total to play around with. “You never know how we go about it on Day 2. We have our plans. The wicket is on the slower side and it is difficult to score runs. Thats what we felt. It is going to be difficult for them as well with the quality of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the side. So, it is going to be a good day for us hopefully,” said an optimistic Vijay.
Vijay backed underperforming batsman Rohit Sharma and reflected his thoughts on the latter’s shot selection. “Thats his area, I guess. When it comes off, it always looks good. When it doesn’t, you fall on the wrong side. So I think we still need to back our instincts and play because we are playing in a sport where we have got to win matches rather than just participate. Whatever has got you here, you have to back that,” said Vijay.
The Tamil Nadu star concluded by praising the New Zealand bowling attack. “They have a good bowling attack. All we have got to do is to play according to the situation. We knew these were going to be their plans. We were well prepared. We could have capitalised a little more after tea,” he said.