India's specialist Test batsman Hanuma Vihari made his debut for the country against England in 2018 at The Oval. He was included in the squad for the last two matches of the series. The tough batting conditions in England were a challenge for Vihari and he admitted the thought of facing James Anderson and Stuart Broad was playing with his mind.

"7 September 2018 - a very special day. I always wanted to play Test cricket for India. The day I had been dreaming of," Vihari said in the episode of Spicy Pitch on Cricbuzz.

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He added, "After the Southampton Test where we lost, Ravi Shastri asked me to be ready for the last Test. All I was thinking of the night before was, how am I going to face James Anderson, Stuart Broad, in those conditions? It was quite tough, you know."

Vihari scored a half-century on his debut, scoring 56 off 124 balls in the first innings. 

Like any other Indian kid, Hanuma idolized Sachin Tendulkar in his childhood. "Sachin sir was obviously my idol when I grew up. That was the reason why I started playing cricket. When I was young I used to watch him bat and I loved it. In the 90s he was like the king of batting. Whenever he used to get out, I used to cry and unplug the TV - used to do all such things," he said.

The 26-year-old has played several big innings in domestic cricket. In October 2017, he scored his first triple century, making 302 not out for Andhra against Odisha in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy.

"The thing with me is that I'm very stubborn when I play Test cricket. I don't want to give away my wicket easily - that's the quality I have; it's a big strength for me."