"I told the physio that there is no problem if I don't play cricket after this match" - Hanuma Vihari on batting with a fracture
Hanuma Vihari has disclosed that he was willing to put his career at stake to help his team's cause in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal between Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Vihari suffered a fracture to his left wrist while facing a short delivery from Avesh Khan in Andhra's first innings of the knockout game. Although he couldn't continue batting at that stage, he returned to the middle to add a few crucial runs for the 10th wicket in both innings.
During an interaction on the Aakashvani show on JioCinema, Hanuma Vihari was asked about his decision to bat while using just his right hand with a left-hander's stance, to which he replied:
"When I said that I wanted to bat, the physio told me 10 times that my career might be at risk if I am hit on the hand again while batting. I told the physio that there is no problem if I don't play cricket after this match but if I give up for Andhra in this match, it will be in my heart forever."
The Andhra skipper highlighted that the magnitude of the game gave him the courage to take the call, elaborating:
"I was devastated because it was a quarterfinal match, such an important match for Andhra and I was not able to bat. I thought it would be an advantage even if I could add 10 runs for the team for the last wicket and I took that decision. If you have to do it for the team, you get the courage."
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 scored 27 and 15 runs respectively in his two innings in the game. However, his efforts went in vain as Andhra eventually lost the game by five wickets and were knocked out of the tournament.
"Obviously there will be some disappointment" - Hanuma Vihari on not getting to play much for India at home
Aakash Chopra also asked Vihari about his thoughts on not getting too many chances for India at home in Test cricket, to which he responded:
"Obviously there will be some disappointment but my job will be to score more runs in domestic cricket and I will try to do that to make a comeback. I have the confidence that if I score big runs for one or two seasons in domestic cricket and win matches for my team, I will again get the chance to prove myself for India."
The 29-year-old concluded by saying that he would much rather try to improve his performance to stage a comeback than think about whether he was treated unfairly:
"I can do much better abroad as well. In whatever I have played abroad in my career, probably my performance wasn't good enough to sustain my place in the XI. So I will look at my own performance rather than thinking whether this or that happened with me and I was dropped."
Another example of how Hanuma Vihari is a tough large-hearted player. Batted left-handed today because he had a fractured wrist in the belief that the few extra runs could make a difference. Remember Sydney 2021 & that partnership with Ashwin that kept India alive in the series?
Vihari has aggregated 839 runs at an average of 33.56 in 16 Tests. Only three of those games came in India, as he was primarily added to the XI as an additional batter in seamer-friendly overseas conditions.