Captain of Andhra, Hanuma Vihari showcased an exemplary display of commitment and perseverance, as he braved excruciating pain to bat single-handed in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022-23 quarter-final match against Madhya Pradesh.
After being asked to bat first, Andhra lost their two openers, CR Gnaneshwar and Abhishek Reddy inside the first 16 overs. The onus was then on Vihari, who was going along well and batting on 16, when a vicious bouncer by speedster Avesh Khan caught him off-guard.
The 29-year-old had to rush for scans, wherein it was revealed that he had sustained a fracture on his left forearm. He was not seen in action again on that day, as centuries from Ricky Bhui and Karan Shinde helped Andhra accumulate a significantly large total.
Yet, Vihari caught everyone by surprise when he came out to bat again on Day 2, when his team’s score was 353/9. The right-handed batter batted with a left-handed guard. in a bid to prevent any further injury, but still managed to score 11 more runs for his side.
Alongside tail-ended Lalith Mohan, he built 26-run last-wicket stand, before eventually being trapped leg before wicket by Saransh Jain. The player with 16 Test caps for India shared the video of his left-handed batting on Twitter, alongside the caption “Do it for the team. Do it for the bunch. Never give up!! Thank you everyone for your wishes. Means a lot!!”
Vihari also struck a boundary off an audacious one-handed reverse sweep, collecting applauds from many in the process, including his national teammate, Dinesh Karthik. The wicket-keeper batter wrote on Twitter “It's a REVERSE SLAP not a reverse sweep. No offence to the bowler, but that was quite a shot.”
Vihari Scored 15 in the Second Innings
Later on, in the second innings, Vihari replicated the same by braving through pain to bat at number 11, at a stage where his team was reeling at 76/9. He scored a 16-ball 15, which included three boundaries, to help Andhra accumulate 93 runs and set up a 245-run target for Madhya Pradesh.
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