Former fielding coach of the Indian men’s cricket team R Sridhar recalled the selfless ask made by Hanuma Vihari during the Indian cricket team’s home ICC World Test Championship series against the South African cricket team. Vihari got a place in the playing XI for the Test match at Vizag because of his ton in the previous ICC World Test Championship series against the West Indies cricket team.
While Vihari could not impress much in that game, the Indian cricket team still managed to defeat the Proteas. Vihari felt that the Indian team did not need an extra batter but needed an extra bowling option because the top-order was in excellent form, and having a bowler would bolster the team’s chances of winning.
Thus, after the Test in Vizag, Hanuma Vihari went to R Sridhar and told him that he should not have played the Test. He also added that he should not be picked for the next match because the Indian team needed an extra bowler.
“During that Vizag Test, I remember he came to me and said ‘Sir, I should not have played this Test. Sir, next Test I shouldn’t play. We should play with an extra bowler because the way we are batting, we don’t need six batters,” R Sridhar recalled his chat with Vihari.
Hanuma Vihari did not play a single Test match at home after that game
Hanuma Vihari lost his place in the Indian Test team for the home matches after that Vizag Test. The Indian team played with Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant or Wriddhiman Saha in the batting order.
But now Vihari is all set to make his comeback to the home squad of the Indian team as he has been picked for the upcoming Sri Lanka series. With Pujara and Rahane not present, Vihari is likely to feature in the playing XI.
