"I am a little disappointed that he has completely fallen out of favor" - Aakash Chopra on Hanuma Vihari batting left-handed with a fractured wrist
Aakash Chopra has lauded Hanuma Vihari for consistently putting his body on the line and expressed his slight disappointment at the middle-order batter no longer being in the national selectors' scheme of things.
Vihari suffered a fracture to his left wrist while facing Avesh Khan in Andhra Pradesh's first innings of the ongoing Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Madhya Pradesh. However, he returned to bat while using just his right hand with a left-hander's stance and scored 27 and 15 runs respectively in his two innings.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra praised Vihari for the grit shown by him, elaborating:
"Hanuma Vihari batted left-handed with a fractured hand in both innings, played shots with just one hand. It is incredible what Hanuma Vihari is doing. He did it in Sydney as well, took balls on his chest and kept his career almost on the line. I am a little disappointed that he has completely fallen out of favor after that."
Chopra added that the Andhra Pradesh skipper is an inspiration for everyone, saying:
"We have not given him too many opportunities and now it seems a temporary or permanent stop has been put on his career because his name is not coming at all. What you are doing will be written in golden letters, that how you put your body on the line and how you can still contribute for India and his state team. Hanuma Vihari - you are an inspiration."
Do it for the team. Do it for the bunch.
Never give up!!
Thank you everyone for your wishes. Means a lot!! https://t.co/sFPbHxKpnZ
Vihari has aggregated 839 runs at an average of 33.56 in the 16 Tests he has played. 13 of those Tests have come away from home, with his last game being the Birmingham Test against England last year.
"Very few people understand that he was an amazing player" - Aakash Chopra on Murali Vijay's retirement
Akash Chopra also paid tribute to Murali Vijay for an excellent career, stating:
"Murali Vijay has announced his retirement. Very few people understand that he was an amazing player. He has struck two T20 centuries and scored centuries in Tests as well, the entire spectrum with a lot of grace. When he used to play, it was like poetry in motion."
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckons the former Indian opener's only regret might be his inability to perform across formats at the same time, explaining:
"When he started his career, the focus was on Tests, so he used to take his time and play very slowly and wasn't scoring runs in T20s. When he started scoring runs in T20s, he went absolutely down in Tests. He was someone who maybe found it difficult to switch from one format to the other."
Vijay amassed 3982 runs at a decent average of 38.28 in 61 Tests. The Tamil Nadu opener also represented India in 17 ODIs and nine T20Is, aggregating 339 and 169 runs respectively.