Hanuma Vihari - The wounded warrior
In the late evening of January 11th, 2021, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Hanuma Vihari, practically on one leg, was keeping a relentless Australian pace attack at bay to salvage a creditable draw for his country.
At the same time, about 7800 kilometers away, a well-known politician by the name Babul Supriyo took to Twitter and slammed Hanuma Vihari for 'murdering cricket'.
According to the honourable MP, the 27-year-old killed Team India's chances of pulling off one of the best victories in the history of Test cricket because of Hanuma Vihari's slow batting. He tweeted:
The visitors, with eight wickets in hand, needed 309 runs to win on the final day of the SCG Test. After losing their stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane early on Day 5, Team India were right on the back foot.
However, Rishabh Pant walked out to bat ahead of Hanuma Vihari and played arguably the innings of his life. The southpaw's blistering 97, coupled with a crucial 148-run stand alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, meant that an unlikely victory was plausible for Team India.
But then both the set batsmen fell, and with an injured Ravindra Jadeja still to bat, Australia could sniff victory and a 2-1 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Adding to the visitors' misery, Hanuma Vihari injured his hamstring while trying to take a quick single.
Hanuma Vihari's valiant rearguard action at the SCG
The Andhra Pradesh man had a decision to make - walk back to the pavilion and make sure he doesn't aggravate his injury or to shut up shop and block everything that comes his way.
Hanuma Vihari chose the latter, which was a difficult, if not impossible, task against arguably the most fearsome bowling attack in Test cricket at the moment.
As they say fortune favours the brave; the 27-year-old rode his luck, surviving a dropped catch by Tim Paine off Mitchell Starc. Along with Ravichandran Ashwin, the duo batted out 259 balls to ensure Team India reached safe shores and keep the series alive.
Two days later, Hanuma Vihari replied to Supriyo's controversial tweet with the correct spelling of his name, which the MP had misspelt, while completely ignoring the rest of the tweet.
This epic response endeared many on Twitter. Most of them hailed Hanuma Vihari for his resilient knock and a befitting response to an inappropriate observation. But only a few days ago, most of these people opposed Hanuma Vihari's inclusion in the playing XI for the SCG Test as the player was woefully out of form.
In a country where there are 1.3 billion 'cricket experts', making yourself immune to all the external criticism is an art. Hanuma Vihari, through his short and sweet response on Twitter, proved that he has mastered that art.
Hanuma Vihari's early cricketing days
Putting the team first, no matter what the situation, has been a trait that Hanuma Vihari has had since his childhood. With Hanuma Vihari displaying signs of his batting prowess at the tender age of eight, his parents enrolled him in a cricket academy in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh.
After a few months, Hanuma Vihari found himself under the tutelage of former Hyderabad cricketer Nagesh Hammond. Seeing the spark in the youngster, Hammond urged Hanuma Vihari's parents to send him to another fine coach, K John Manoj, where the budding prodigy would improve by leaps and bounds.
A mother's sacrifice that laid the foundation of Hanuma Vihari's career
When everything seemed to go smoothly, tragedy befell the Vihari family, as Hanuma's father passed away when the youngster was only 11 years old. At this age, most children would have lost their courage and focus, but Hanuma Vihari was made of sterner stuff.
Hanuma Vihari went missing for a few days, only for his mother Vijayalakshmi finding her child playing in a school final and winning the game for his team by scoring an unbeaten 82. That is when she knew she had to make a decision - join her late husband's company or focus on her son's career with her monthly widow pension of INR 22000.
As they rightly say, children imbibe traits from their parents. Vijayalakshmi proved to be a fighter. She chose the second option and decided to provide her son with all the possible facilities for him to flourish in cricket.
Using her pension to buy a plot of land, Hanuma Vihari's mother prepared a cement wicket and also bought a bowling machine so that her son could practice in peace. Hanuma Vihari didn't let his mother's toil and investment go in vain.
Hanuma Vihari's realisation to work harder
Rising up the ranks in junior cricket, Hanuma Vihari soon boarded a flight to Australia as a part of the Indian U19 team. Although the side led by Unmukt Chand won the tournament, Vihari failed to create an impact, managing only 71 runs from six games at a rather dismal average of 11.83.
However, seeing the promise he showed in both that tournament as well as in domestic cricket, Hanuma Vihari bagged an IPL contract in 2013 with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Hanuma Vihari had a dream start to the tournament, as he won the Man of the Match award in only his second game.
However, with inconsistency creeping in, Hanuma Vihari's form tailed off. The player realised he had to work on his technique and grind out runs in domestic cricket to achieve success at the highest level.
The turning point of Hanuma Vihari's career
In seven domestic seasons for Hyderabad, Hanuma Vihari scored 4,543 runs in 102 innings at a decent average of 44.53 across formats. However, with his performances going relatively unnoticed, Hanuma Vihari realized he had to take a decision - a gutsy one.
On 20th May 2016, Hanuma Vihari decided to move out of his comfort zone. He left Hyderabad to join Andhra, a move that required his family to move out of the city. The decision did raise a few eyebrows at first, and Hanuma Vihari was under pressure to prove he had indeed made the right move.
Fortunately, the breakthrough season did not take long in coming. In the 2017-18. Ranji Trophy season, Hanuma Vihari conjured 752 runs in just six games at a staggering average of 94, in the process also bringing up his maiden first-class triple-hundred. Little did anyone know Hanuma Vihari was only getting started.
Following his fine Ranji Trophy exploits, Hanuma Vihari earned a place in the Rest of India (ROI) team to face Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha. After posting a mammoth 800-7, Vidarbha bowlers Umesh Yadav and Rajneesh Gurbani made early inroads into the ROI batting order.
However, Hanuma Vihari stood firm amidst the ruins and played a heroic knock of 183 runs off 327 balls. Showcasing his ability to bat with the tail, he stitched together a fine 216-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Jayant Yadav. Although ROI failed to take the first-innings lead, Vihari's innings put him in the radar of the national selectors.
Hanuma Vihari's marathon innings had happened right after Team India came back from South Africa after a 2-1 loss in the Test series. The failure of the middle-order in that series was a huge concern, and the then chief selector MSK Prasad eyed Hanuma Vihari to address the issue.
Hanuma Vihari was fast-tracked to the India A team, where the player made an instant impact by scoring 253 runs in three innings during a tour of England. As if to prove that was no fluke, he followed his England exploits with a match-winning 148 against South Africa A in testing conditions in Bengaluru.
Hanuma Vihari's Test debut
A 24-year-old Hanuma Vihari was selected for the Indian team to tour England for a five-Test series.
In the fifth Test of that series at the Oval, Hanuma Vihari became the 292nd player to play Test cricket for India.
It was baptism by fire. Hanuma Vihari was instantly under pressure, as the Indian top-order struggled to cope with the swing of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
However, playing each ball on merit, Hanuma Vihari conjured a fine half-century and occupied the crease for 124 balls. In perhaps a sign of things to come, Hanuma Vihari looked the most comfortable Indian batsman in seaming conditions when some of his more illustrious compatriots looked hopelessly out of sorts .
Hanuma Vihari - the quintessential team man - a selfless opener
With KL Rahul and Murali Vijay failing miserably in the first two Tests of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a two-Test-old Hanuma Vihari was asked to play out of position and face the new ball.
Despite having little to no experience of opening the innings - even in domestic cricket - Hanuma Vihari stood up to the challenge. He did not score a lot of runs but did a commendable job of seeing off the new ball.
Hanuma Vihari faced 111 cumulative balls in two innings, proving he had the game and the guts to withstand the new-ball challenge.
Hanuma Vihari conjures his first Test hundred
Hanuma Vihari's breakaway Test series came in 2019 when Team India toured West Indies for two Tests. The player produced scores of 32, 93, 111 and 53* for emerging the top-scorer of the series, which led Indian skipper Virat Kohli to hail Hanuma Vihari as the 'find of the series'.
Vihari also showed the ability to adapt according to circumstances. He delivered a quickfire 55 off 70 balls against a fiery New Zealand attack in Christchurch, showcasing his ability to score quickly as and when required. With the other batsmen failing, Hanuma Vihari ensured Team India posted a respectable total on the board.
Hanuma Vihari's heroic rearguard at the SCG
Hanuma Vihari has delivered whatever has been asked of him during his short career so far. Yet fans clamoured for his removal from the playing-XI for the SCG Test after the player managed only 45 runs from three innings in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The pressure was evident on Hanuma Vihari, as he ran himself out in the first innings and dropped a sitter of Marnus Labuschagne. In such a backdrop, Hanuma Vihari's valiant unbeaten innings of 23 runs of 161 balls was worth its weight in gold.
By choosing to ignore his discomfiture and fight it out in the middle, Hanuma Vihari knew another 'failure' with the bat could see him out of the playing XI. However, the player rose to the occasion and ensured the visitors managed to keep the series on level terms going into the final Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.
As Hanuma Vihari walked back to the dressing room after ensuring a creditable draw at the SCG, he was seen limping and using his bat for support.
Scans revealed he sustained a grade two tear in his hamstring, which rules him out of the fourth Test and possibly the first few Tests of the ensuing home series against England.
Nevertheless, his determination, character and resilience in the face of hostility and seemingly insurmountable odds is a marker that Hanuma Vihari undoubtedly has what it takes to represent his country with distinction in the longest format of the game.
One would only hope Hanuma Vihari is back in the Indian fold soon and continues from where he left off at the SCG.