With the exclusions of Pujara and Rahane, Hanuma Vihari is now likely to feature in India's Test XI regularly.
The Mohali Test also marks the Test captaincy debut of Rohit Sharma while it will be Virat Kohli’s 100th appearance in the longest format of the game.
For the two Tests against Sri Lanka at home, the Indian selectors have dropped the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, which has opened the doors for batters like Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer in the playing XI.
Vihari might have been a regular feature in India’s Test squad since 2018, but he was rarely getting opportunities in the XI due to the presence of Rahane. However, the right-hander always took the decision of the team management in the right spirit.
In fact, Vihari had once suggested that he shouldn’t have played in a particular Test match despite hitting a century in his last appearance.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, former India fielding coach R Sridhar narrated the moment from the 2019 home Test series against South Africa.
“During that Vizag Test, I remember he came to me and said 'Sir, I should not have played this Test'. Hanuma had played that Test because he had got a hundred in the previous Test in Jamaica. In India, we play with certain combinations... We still won that Test match on Day 5 but it took the class of Shami to get us there and took so much out of him,” Sridhar said.
“He said, 'Sir, next Test I shouldn't play. We should play with an extra bowler because the way we are batting, we don't need six batters'. Rohit was on fire in that series, Mayank was batting brilliantly at that time and it was also his first Test in India. Hanuma knew that the captain of the team would always keep the team ahead of him. He understands,” he added.
Hanuma Vihari has played 13 Tests for India so far, scoring 684 runs at an average of 34.20 with one century and four fifties.