With the Ranji Trophy going on, India middle-order batter talks about his journey as a Test cricketer so far and making a comeback into the team.
Indian Test team has always been full of world-class players and something hard to get into. Many talented players dream of establishing themselves in the star-studded middle order but only a few have got a chance. Keeping the place in this eleven is even harder as it requires consistent performances with several waiting in the wings.
India and Andhra batter Hanuma Vihari has probably faced a similar situation before. On the basis of consistent performances, he got his first Test cap in England and scored an eye-catching half century on debut. But the performance started going down as more and more exciting batters started knocking down the door. Eventually, Vihari lost his place in the team.
Vihari has now revealed that he hasn’t been with touch with anyone since his last Test. “No one has spoken to me recently, but Rahul Dravid did speak to me after my last Test, and he told me what I can improve on, but no, I haven’t been in touch with anyone since then. But I only think about improving my game and enjoying it. If I don’t do that, there is no purpose left. When I go into the middle, I just want to do my best for the team and score runs,” Vihari said to ESPNCricinfo.
I am at a stage where I have no expectations. I give my best each time I bat and then whatever happens will happen. I do feel sad and disappointed that I am not in the Test team, but everyone goes through ups and downs, and my job now is to score runs in the Ranji Trophy,” he further added.
Vihari also mentioned his fond memories of Sydney Test played in 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy. In this Test, he and Ravichandran Ashwin stitched together a 62-run partnership from 256 balls for the seventh wicket to draw the Test. Vihari scored 23 off 161 balls with an injured hamstring on the final day of the Test.
“I have very wonderful memories of the Sydney Test. It was 1-1. If we had lost that Test in Sydney, we would have lost our chance of winning the series. So, Ashwin and I – we were both carrying injuries, so we couldn’t run much – decided to take it ball-by-ball, over-by-over, and see where we end up. We ended up playing one-and-a-half sessions and it was a memorable result. Then we went to Gabba and won the series, but the Sydney Test will always be a special one for me,” said Vihari.
India went on to win the next match at Gabba, thus winning a historic series down under 2-1. Vihari has scored 839 runs 28 Test innings so far with a best score of 111. He is currently playing Ranji Trophy for Andhra Pradesh where he has scored 365 runs in 5 matches at a decent average of 52.14 so far.
