AUS v IND 2020-21: WATCH- "Ashwin guided me like an elder brother," says Hanuma Vihari

The duo put on 62* runs in 258 balls in three hours on day 5 to earn India a famous draw at SCG.

R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari battled hard to earn a famous draw. | Getty

After a miraculous draw at SCG, Hanuma Vihari said that R Ashwin was guiding him like an elder brother when both were battling to draw the third Test match against Australia.  

A gritty batting performance by the duo of Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin, who batted for 256 deliveries and together stitched 62 partnerships, helped Team India earn a magical draw at SCG. 

With the series being leveled at 1-1 after the first two Tests, two sides shared the honors in an engrossing third Test in which India produced a gutsy performance while chasing a mammoth target of 407, something that was down largely to Ashwin and Vihari’s heroic stand as they batted out a huge number of overs to ensure India go into the final Test with a chance of winning the series.

In their gritty partnership of 62* runs R Ashwin scored a fabulous 39* off 128 balls while bearing shooting back pain, and Hanuma Vihari, while battling with hamstring, scored 23* off 161 balls. 

Sharing his batting experience with R Ashwin, Hanuma Vihari said that the former guided him like an elder brother. 

"Batting that [last] session was a real experience for me. It was something you can only dream of: batting on day five of a Test match; the series is 1-1. If you can do it for the team, that satisfaction will slowly sink and then we will realize it how big an effort it was," 

"I was really happy, as an elder brother he [Ashwin] was communicating like whenever he felt that I was a bit loose, he was telling me [to] let us focus on one [the ball] at a time. Take it as deep as possible, 10 balls at a time...it is really special," Hanuma Vihari said in a video shared by BCCI on their Twitter account. 

Hanuma Vihari also referred to Cheteshwar Pujara’s 205-ball 77 runs innings and said that had Pujara been there till the end, India might have won the game.

"Taking a draw out of it was a fabulous result for us. I felt like I was not injured and Pujji [Pujara] would have been there, we would have had a result, it would have been a fabulous win. But nonetheless, 10 points out of this is a massive result for all of us," he said

(BCCI.TV Inputs)

 
 

By Ankitjit Singh - 13 Jan, 2021

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