In 32 Test matches Murali Vijay has six centuries. The scores: 139, 167, 153, 146, 144 and 150. The last one came in the first innings of the ongoing Test against Bangladesh in Fatullah. What is remarkable in those numbers is that five out of the six are 140-plus scores. It is a pattern that says a great deal about Vijay’s approach to batting in Tests and, more so, about his concentration abilities. In a chat with India’s tremendously in-form opening batsman, we, at bcci.tv, tried to get in insight into his concentration skill that has helped him score centuries – not bare minimal 100s but big ones – in the last couple of years. Vijay also tells us about his next aim and aspiration. You are making a name for yourself when it comes to scoring these daddy hundreds. I feel really glad to hear you say that. If I continue the way I am batting currently and keep scoring these big hundreds I will be very proud of myself. Concentration is the key to playing such long innings. Have you worked on it or does it come naturally to you? I am actually not a very focused person off the field and perhaps, that helps me save all my concentration power for when I am batting. Concentration is the basic requirement if you want to succeed at the international level. When you are batting well and are in good form, your ability to concentrate is what takes you to big scores. You have to seize that opportunity to go on and score a big one. Things are not served to you on a platter at this level and you have to make every chance and every moment of good form count. Equally important is to know exactly when to concentrate hard and when to relax your mind. Do you have a mechanism for that? If you play a knock of five hours you will be concentrating for maximum 40 minutes. The remaining time you will either spend at the non-striker’s end or prepare to face your next delivery. When the ball is about to be delivered to you, that is the time you have got to be ready and focus really hard. At the moment I am in such a space that everything is happening automatically without me doing it consciously. I just want to cash in on that. How do you switch off between balls? I enjoy watching my partner bat and I don’t think about my game when I am at the non-striker’s end. Wherever my mind wants to waver, I let it, without restrictions. I think about random stuff and let my thoughts flow. The moment I get back on strike, I forget everything else and focus on my batting plans again. It may sound very easy but it is very difficult to actually implement it. Does your level of concentration change during different phases of your innings – say first 20 runs, when you’re approaching a milestone and soon after you’ve achieved that milestone? Personally, I practise for that one purpose – to ensure there is not much fluctuation in my concentration level at different stages of my innings. Irrespective of whether I am batting on 0 or 100, I just try to focus on every ball as and when it has been delivered to me. It is difficult to do that when you have been batting for three hours and you are physically tired. For that you need to have a very high standard of physical fitness besides having a strong mind. These are the things I prepare for before the match. So, when I go in to bat I don’t have to think about them. They come naturally. Batsmen tend to lose a bit of focus after getting to a milestone like a century. Very often we see them throwing it away soon after. Once you reach your 100, do you start to focus from the scratch? Definitely. And that is a good habit. All the greats of the game have become so because of this habit. You shouldn’t be content with 100 runs against your name; you need to keep going. That is the difference between good players and great ones. What also helps me is thinking about the team rather than my score. If you go with the mindset of scoring as many runs as possible for your team, you will not get carried away or distracted by your personal milestone because in your mind your job is not done yet. Does your partner play a role in that? Do you tell him to point it out when he feels you’re losing focus? Hundred percent. Communication is very crucial in any sport and especially so with your partner while batting in cricket. At times you have to go and tell your partner, ‘Look, I am not too comfortable with my running right now due to cramps of whatever reason, so let’s not take a cheeky single’. That will avoid any kind of mix-up and ensure that your partner doesn’t lose out on his score with a run-out. It is important to be open and honest with your batting partner. A partnership is a journey through which you help each other and move forward together. Opening batsmen share a special bond in a Test team. You and Shikhar have formed a successful opening pair and you are so different as batsmen and individuals. What is the chemistry like in the middle? It is said that for the openers it is important to be good friends off the field in order to succeed as a pair on it. And it is absolutely true. Shikhar and I share a very good rapport off the field and that helps us in the middle. Although our games are different, we know each other’s games very well. As far as our personalities go, some people think he is the relaxed one and I am the serious one. But while batting it is the other way round. I am more relaxed and he is usually pumped up from inside. We complement each other well in that way. Say a few words about this knock of 150. During our partnership Shikhar came up to me and said, ‘You can use your feet more to the spinners’. I told him that I wasn’t too comfortable doing that at that moment and will need some time. I wasn’t playing my best fluent cricket and had to dig in. I had to get used to the wicket and just look to bat for sometime. I did that and it worked out pretty well in the end. It helped that Shikhar was playing so fluently at the other end. You have a few scores of 140s and 150s. Now the next step is to breach that 200-run mark? Yes, I am aiming for that. I have been batting well and scoring these 140s and 150s. Now it’s time to take another step and aim for a double hundred. To achieve that I am working on my fitness. As I said earlier, after having batted long enough to get to 150 your body tires out due to the external factors like the heat and humidity. That affects your mind. If you have the will to do it, you will. I have that will and I am doing everything I can to achieve that. Hopefully it is around the corner.