Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari showed exemplary courage as he came out to bat in their ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022-23 quarterfinal against Madhya Pradesh, despite having fractured his left hand on the opening day of the encounter.
Vihari had to retire hurt on 16 after copping the blow, which after scans have put him out of action for four to five weeks. However, when his team was struggling a bit, he showed big courage to come out to bat at the fall of the 9th wicket.
“There is no chance (he can bat). But knowing him, he might just walk out if he feels the team needs it. He has not agreed for a PoP (Plaster of Paris) yet and is managing with a cast for now,” an Andhra official said.
The 29-year-old batter had to bat left-handed to guard his broken hand and he couldn’t grip the bat and basically batted one-handed.
This was not the first time Vihari showed such valor on the field as many still remember him batting on one leg to save the Sydney Test on the 2020-21 tour of Australia after he tore his hamstring as India was set a 400-plus target. But he and R Ashwin batted out of their skins to help India salvage a draw.
Vihari walked in after Avesh dismissed Prithvi Raj Yarra, leaving Andhra at 353/9. Vihari countered the pace from Avesh Khan and spin from Saransh Jain. His bravado helped Andhra post 379 in their first innings.
He explained the reason for his gambit after close of play.
“My hand has a complete fracture. It’s on the forearm. The doctor had advised me not to bat and even our physio said I shouldn’t. But when the wickets were falling, I got an idea, ‘why not bat left-handed with a single hand?’
You never know. Even if I faced 10-15 balls, even if it’s 10 runs extra, it would matter. Setting an example was my main intention. If I give up, then the team spirit will go down. But if I go out there in the middle, even if I don’t get any runs, get out first ball also, that’s not a problem. But me being there, setting an example was important for me,” Vihari told Sportstar.
Vihari assessed the Holkar Stadium turf as a good sporting wicket and said: “There’s something for the bowlers and batters can also find runs if they do well. We showed that with the way Ricky and Karan batted. I think it will remain the same tomorrow as well. It was a crucial partnership; 251 runs weren’t easy on this wicket. It’s not easy for the new batters as well, which was evident today.”
“I don’t think the game will be decided by the first innings. It’s a five-day game. Every session is important. We have to ensure we get the (remaining) six wickets tomorrow and then bat well. Bat well and put them out of the game, that should be our gameplan. We shouldn’t rest with the first-innings lead,” he signed off.
(Sportstar inputs)
