After being dropped following sub-par performances in South Africa and England, M. Vijay has worked hard to find a place for the tour to Australia, largely thanks to a successful country stint with Essex.

Speaking after Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Dindigul on Sunday, Vijay said, “I never went to play county to get back into the Indian team. I felt it was important to get some runs, play good cricket and it was the right time to go out there and play county cricket. It really happened that I could do well which gave me that extra bit of chance to get back into the side.”

The 34-year old had a successful tour to Australia four years back with 482 runs and could once again play a key role.

Vijay will now head to New Zealand as part of the India A squad and believes the team’s plan to go early to Australia will be of help.

“This time we have planned well and we will get practice games before the first Test in Australia. So it is going to be ideal and hopefully, our boys can gel as a team and put the best foot forward.”

Preparation

The stylish opener also spoke about his new preparation methods in which he has reduced his practice load the day before the match saying it is something he developed after his wrist injury last year. “It has been my pattern since I got my wrist injury. At that point in time, I couldn’t bat the way I wanted to and had to alter my preparation as well. Basically, I wanted to be fresh for a game.

“It gave a lot of understanding of my game during that time and now that I am fully fit, I feel it still makes a lot of sense save your energy. Sweating it out just immediately before the game wasn’t helping me.”