Hanuma Vihari added to India A squad for South Africa tour
Andhra batter Hanuma Vihari has been added to the India A squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa. India A are scheduled to play three four-day games, starting November 23 in Bloemfontein.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to social media to update the same. Sharing a picture of Hanuma Vihari, they wrote:
"UPDATE: @Hanumavihari has been added to the India 'A' squad for the South Africa tour."
🚨 UPDATE: @Hanumavihari has been added to the India 'A' squad for the South Africa tour. twitter.com/BCCI/status/14… https://t.co/uy3UD1pCN5
The Priyank Panchal-led squad boasts the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Baba Aparajith and Sarfaraz Khan, who will fight out for a place in the playing XI.
The three-match series will commence on November 23 followed by games on November 29 and December 6 respectively. The selectors will have their eyes firmly placed on the three matches with India scheduled to travel to South Africa next month.
Hanuma Vihari dropped from India squad for New Zealand Tests
The All India Senior Selection Committee named a 16-member squad for the upcoming two-match series against New Zealand, starting November 25 in Kanpur. The Chetan Sharma-led panel shockingly left out Hanuma Vihari, who last played a Test match in Australia earlier this year.
I think it's only fair that selectors share their view on Hanuma Vihari & why he has been ignored. Vihari ticked all the right boxes to raise his hand for Test selection. I see no reason why he should be dropped. If the selectors have a view, they should be loud & clear about it.
Vihari was involved in a match-saving partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin in Adelaide before being left out of playing XI due to an injury. He was also a part of the Test series against England but didn't get game time.
With Virat Kohli opting out of the first Test, the decision to leave out Hanuma Vihari looks a bit harsh. Out of his 12 Tests, Vihari has now played only one Test at home way back in 2019.
India squad for New Zealand series: Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.