Earning a Test cap is always a special feeling for any cricketer and Hanuma Vihari is no different. The batsman from Andhra had to work tirelessly to make his way to the top. Recently, he opened up on how he felt when he received his Test cap from skipper Virat Kohli during India’s tour of England in 2018.
The selectors drafted Hanuma Vihari on the back of consistent scores in first-class cricket season after season. Many say he should have got a chance much earlier but Hanuma made sure the opportunity doesn’t go begging. On a challenging Oval wicket against the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the 26-year-old showed a face of resilience and determination.
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He fought his way to a fighting fifty to help India revive their innings. His grit and ability to hold the ground in the middle compelled Kohli to say that there is a calmness in the dressing room whenever Hanuma Vihari is batting. Recently, during an Instagram Live chat with Cricfit editor Mikkhail Vaswani, Vihari took us through his dream moment.
“It was a special moment for me because I waited for that moment for a lot of years,” Vihari said. “I’ve been performing well in the domestic circuit for four-five years before that consistently. So it was a long wait and it wasn’t an easy ride. But, all I would like to say is it was all worth it. The moment I took the Test cap from Virat (Kohli) and then scoring a half-century on debut was the icing on the cake. So it was worth the wait,” he added.
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When asked, if he remembers any special anecdotes that anyone said to him during that time, Hanuma Vihari recalled what coach Ravi Shastri told him. The India head coach asked Vihari to believe in his abilities and that is exactly what the passionate batsman has been trying to do since then.
“All that I remember is that coach Ravi Shastri said that you have done well for India A and in domestic cricket. This is only one step higher than what you do in domestic cricket so believe in your abilities and that is exactly what I tried to do,” Vihari added.
Since then, Hanuma Vihari has lived up to the expectations. The management has thrown him at the top against the venomous Australian attack but Vihari didn’t bog down and showed enormous determination. Meanwhile, so far, he has notched one century and four fifties in the nine Tests he has played.
