Silken drives, elegant feet movements, and the occasional long hops to clear the ropes. These are synonymous to Murali Vijay’s strokeplay. Every time you watch him bat, you are left in awe of his stylish willow work. Saturday afternoon was no different in front of a vociferous Wankhede crowd that saw Vijay in full flow. Those leaves, that straight bat and the controlled dabs were all in display as the opener notched up his eight Test ton. The moment he got to the magical three figure mark, the arena gave him a standing ovation not to forget the delight of India captain Virat Kohli alike. For Vijay, this hundred was much more than just a hundred. It wasn’t just a number, it was an emotion. “It is a pretty emotional Test match for me,” Vijay began speaking about his special ton. “On Day 1, my close friend’s father passed away. It was difficult to focus when such things were happening around you but I am happy that I could come out with a good score. I just want to dedicate this hundred to him and his family because they were really supportive of me when I was growing up. I couldn’t be there in his last moments. So it was difficult. Hope he is fine up there.” Emotional one nevertheless, it was a challenging one as well. Especially after coming off some low scores in his previous four innings a lot of doubts were raised about his form. For Vijay, this century was a fitting reply. “I started off the series well but a couple of games did not go my way. But, coming into this game I was much more confident and clearer with my game plans. That helped me a lot. I was batting well before hand too, just that I was getting out midway through the innings. I just wanted to neglect all the previous innings, come back fresh with a clear mind and play for the team’s cause. For me, that gives much more satisfaction than your personal milestone. It helps me build my innings when I put the team ahead of myself. This ton is right up there because we had a huge score ahead of us and we needed to build a partnership and we exactly did that.” Talking about clearer mindset, Vijay believed the break between the 3rd and 4th Test augured him well. “The break between the Mohali Test and the start of this Test helped me a great deal. I went back home and spoke to my coach. I sat down with him and discussed a few things. I came out much stronger. It cleared my head. I came out fresh with clearer game plans. I backed my instinct a lot and I was confident. It came out my way.” The Wankhede pitch offered a lot of assistance to the spinners. If Virat would keep his head still from one end and dab it for singles and doubles, Vijay would counter it by using his feet to perfection and launching the ball into the stands unsettling the bowlers. “That was the plan. The track had a lot of bounce so you had to cope up with it. All three wickets that we played earlier in the series were different from each other so you had to find ways to deal with it. My gameplan was to use my feet a lot and wait for the bad deliveries. I didn’t want to allow the bowlers to settle in their rhythm. “Myself and Virat started off well after losing the early wicket. The moment Virat came, we had our game plan sorted. We both looked positive right from the beginning. The best thing about this batting line-up is the fact that our top four batsmen know each others’ game well. That gives you the confidence to score when the pressure situation comes up. We did not change anything apart from the intent. The moment Virat came, it got easier, because he started off really well and it gave me the freedom to play my game.” India find themselves in a good position with a lead of 51 runs at the end of Day 3. Kohli is batting on 147 and giving him good company is Jayant Yadav unbeaten on 30. Vijay hoped that the partnership only went on further and they could make it count in the first session tomorrow morning.