Murali Vijay On Ellyse Perry And Shikhar Dhawan:
“I basically want to play sport all my life,” Murali Vijay said as he sat down during an Instagram live chat for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a candid talk with sports producer Rupha Ramani.
Murali Vijay was able to take quite a few questions from the fans and keep the conversation lively, saying that he was getting bored anyway during the COVID-19 lockdown that has now been extended to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus until May 3.
Vijay, a key CSK member, said he misses just going to the ground and playing cricket during the lockdown, stressing that he spends most of his time at Chennai cricket grounds. The India opener, known for his rugged approach to batting, says after the COVID-19 crisis, he’s prepared to face everything in life.
When asked about two cricketers with whom he would like to have dinner, Murali Vijay said that it would be the Australia women’s cricket star Ellyse Perry and his fellow India opener Shikhar Dhawan.
“Ellyse Perry. I want to have dinner with her. She’s so beautiful, and any day Shikhar Dhawan. He’s a fun guy. It’s just that he will talk in Hindi, and I’m going to talk in Tamil,” said Murali Vijay.
Murali Vijay also said that Virender Sehwag is his favorite partner in the middle, adding that he shared several heart-warming moments with the ‘legendary’ Indian opener.
“My favorite batting partner is Virender Sehwag. You’ll always score runs when he’s there. He’s my favorite opener along with Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Jaffer. They’re all great at the game. Obviously, I’ve followed their footsteps. I was on the line. So it was a perfect opportunity for me to share the dressing room with Virender Sehwag and pick up his brains,”
“He is a fantastic, fantastic person. I love him. Bless you, Viru pa,” said Vijay.
Murali Vijay also said the experience of batting with MS Dhoni is difficult to describe in words, saying that the CSK captain has a calming impact on him while they’re out in the field.
Vijay recalled his knocks from India’s England tour in 2014, when he and MS Dhoni shared many partnerships, including the Trent Bridge Test 126-run stand.
“The partnership between myself and MS (Dhoni) was amazing in England. He made me calm. We were four wickets down, and the way he handled himself and made me lift my game, we were feeding each other. MS is always a soothing factor in the middle. Like he comes up with his own persona. You can’t explain it with words. We don’t even speak much in the middle, it just eye-to-eye contacts,” Vijay said.
