Ravi Shastri has come at the right time: Murali Vijay

The reaction to the announcement that Ravi Shastri will remain India’s Director of Cricket through the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup next March has largely been positive. Rajeev Shukla, a BCCI vice-president, said recently that one of the reasons Shastri was given the extension was that the players are happy with his style of working. [caption id=“attachment_2294460” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Murali Vijay is excited about the upcoming series against South Africa and is nearing full fitness. AFP[/caption] Reaffirming this notion, Murali Vijay said that Ravi Shastri has arrived at the right time for Indian cricket. “Ravi bhai has his own style of putting it across. [He lifts the mood] 100 percent. Just the energy you get onto the table. At the right time, I think, he has come,” Vijay told ESPNCricinfo. “It’s all fallen in place. Obviously, B Arun and R Sridhar as well [have been great]. Everybody is trying to do his best to give us the best atmosphere,” Vijay said. Another reason for the excellent camaraderie between the current set of players is the amount of travelling the squad has done over the past two years, Vijay said. The overseas tours to New Zealand, South Africa, England and Australia since the beginning of 2013 has produced a tight-knit team despite India losing all four Test series. “Everybody is on the same wavelength and the same age-group, so it’s easy to crack a joke in a tight situation,” Vijay said. “As a unit we are more tight now. It’s a good journey for us. Staying away from home gave us an opportunity to mingle together and go about things in a right way.” Vijay also touched upon the competition for places, especially at the top of the order with KL Rahul’s emergence. He said that the competition is healthy and there is a lot of mutual admiration amongst them, adding that Vijay and Dhawan are the first to praise each other when the other does well. Vijay also reserved special praise for batting coach, Sanjay Bangar. Having worked with Bangar during his time with the Kings XI Punjab side, Vijay said that Bangar is someone who is always there for the players when they want to discuss their batting. Looking forward to the South Africa series, Vijay said he is putting in a great deal of effort in his rehabilitation. Vijay recently told PTI that he is nearing full fitness and should be ready and available for selection for the newly christened Mandela-Gandhi series. Vijay said it was not easy for him to miss two Tests in Sri Lanka, especially when he is on top of his game. “It has been a great journey for me — the last one and a half years. But the best of me is yet to come,” he said. Click here to read the interview with ESPNCricinfo.