Vihari rides on Ranji, Irani performances to make cut
MUMBAI/DELHI : Hanuma Vihari, who was included in India’s squad for the remaining two Tests against England, is a quintessential old school batsman who loves to bat for hours on end without trying anything fancy.
Known for daddy hundreds in domestic cricket, Vihari’s selection in the national team comes on the back of a purple patch he has enjoyed in recent times.
“It’s just the consistent performances from the last 4-5 years (that helped). Because I don’t have the Indian Premier League contract which other players have to get into limelight, playing domestic cricket was the only Player D Bradman V Merchant G Headley Ajay Sharma W Ponsford W Woodfull S Sugwekar KC Ibrahim H Vihari V Kambli
Mat Runs
234
150
103
129
162
174
85
60
63
129
28,067
13,470
9,921
10,120
13,819
13,388
6,563
4,716
5,142
9,965
Average
95.14
71.64
69.86
67.46
65.18
64.99
63.1
61.24
59.79
59.67 way I could get into the Indian team. That said, I knew I needed to be consistent,” said Vihari.
The 24-year old, who became the first player from Andhra in over 18 years to be selected to the Indian Test squad (after current selection committee chief and former Andhra wicketkeeper MSK Prasad represented India in 1999-2000), was among the leading run scorers in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy season, amassing 752 runs in six matches at 94.
Vihari continued his good form in the Irani Trophy where he made a 327-ball 183 for Rest of India (ROI) against Ranji champions Vidarbha that featured India pacer Umesh Yadav and season’s leading wicket-taker Rajneesh Gurbani.
100s
117
45
33
38
47
49
19
14
15
35
His prolific run in domestic cricket earned him a place in India ‘A’ squad. In his most recent first-class game against South Africa ‘A’ in Bengaluru, he hit a match-winning 148.
“Eight years is a long time. There’s a lot of competition (in domestic circuit). There are many good players. To perform and get selected for India A and India is very big.”
“The best part is I know my game well. I try to visualise the game which keeps me
ahead,” he said. NOTTINGHAM: India’s overseas cricket wins have often ended as consolation affairs -- Perth 2008, Durban 2010, Lord’s 2014 and Wanderers 2018. Either the series was already lost or India could not win it. The win in the Trent Bridge Test promises to change that narrative.
Will the Southampton pitch for the fourth Test between India and England be dry and spinnerfriendly? Or will damp weather that has chased the teams amid a parched English summer also leave the Ageas Bowl contest at the mercy of seamers?
Either way, it would be Joe Root’s team feeling the heat. After the 203-run win to mark a remarkable fightback, a ‘complete’ success as Virat Kohli put it, the buzz is around India, though England lead the series 2-1 with two games left.
For the sheer spirit of resurgence, the mood in the Indian camp resonates that of the 2001 series against Australia following the dramatic Eden Gardens win. Coach Ravi Shastri though reminded his team “we’ve only won a Test, not the series”. And only Don Bradman’s Austra- lia have come back from 0-2 down to win a series, against England in 1936-37.
However, India, having dismantled England just days after caving in at Lord’s, can go one better than their 2001 achievement over Australia or Bradman’s world mark if they go all the way to win a tough overseas assignment.
In South Africa, after winning the final Test at Johannesburg in a 1-2 series loss, regret in the Indian camp was that it was not a five-match series. The series was already lost before Kohli’s boys reached Wanderers and India paid for not acclimatising.
India have a great chance to prove a point now.
Trent Bridge could mark a new beginning for Kohli the captain – India could also for the first time under him retain the side at Southampton.
Kohli batted two gears lower and didn’t step up tempo even