On Day 1 of the ongoing 4th Quarter Final at Holkar Stadium in Indore, Vihari, who was captaining the Andhra team, sustained a broken wrist after being hit by a delivery from Avesh Khan and was forced to retire hurt. However, after his team suffered a mid-inning collapse on Day 2, the 29-year-old took the courageous decision to go out and resume his inning.
Vihari, who has played in 16 Test matches for India so far, came out at No. 11, and added 26 runs for the last wicket with No. 9 batter Lalith Mohan (22 not out). Further, Vihari – who is a right-handed batter – batted left-handed to ensure his wrist remains protected. He was the last Andhra batter to get dismissed. Vihari made 27 runs from 57 balls and helped his side post 379 runs on the board in the first innings.
Here is the video:
Vihari’s exemplary bravery was widely lauded by fans and admirers on various social media platforms. Senior cricketer Dinesh Karthik also expressed his views and heaped praises on Vihari for his unbelievable effort.
“Hanuma Vihari. Batting LEFT handed and also, more importantly, just with one hand, the top hand. Bravery to another level,” Karthik wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, For Andhra, Ricky Bhui and Kirdant Karan Shinde (110) smashed their respective centuries to help their team reach a respectable total. While Bhui scored 149 with the help of 18 fours and a six, Shinde smashed 110, including 12 fours and a couple of maximums.
Notably, Vihari had been an integral part of the Indian team until last year when he lost his place in the squad following the emergence of Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in the side. The 29-year-old batter was not picked in India’s squad for the upcoming four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
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