WATCH | Hanuma Vihari again defies the odds, comes out to bat with a plaster in one hand

Indian cricketer Hanuma Vihari made headlines earlier this week for his courageous call of batting for Andhra Pradesh despite suffering an injury. The 29-year-old showed incredible sportsmanship by batting left-handed against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 quarterfinal match. After pulling off the brave move in the first innings, Vihari yet again batted left-handed with plaster on his right hand in the third innings of the match.

Vihari scored 15 runs off 16 balls in Andhra’s second batting innings as the team collapsed on the score of 93 runs. Vihari’s dismissal on Thursday was the last Andhra Pradesh wicket to fall on Day 3 of the quarterfinal match.  Earlier in the innings, Ashwin Hebbar scored the maximum of 35 runs, while Avesh Khan led the MP bowling attack with a heroic 4/24 in 10 overs.

How did Hanuma Vihari suffer the injury?

In the first innings of the match, Vihari scored 27 runs in 57 balls, as Andhra Pradesh amassed 379 runs. Ricky Bhui and Karan Shinde starred with knocks of 149 runs and 110 runs respectively. It is pertinent to mention that Vihari injured his arm on Day 1 while facing the brutal bouncers of Avesh. 

He was batting on 16 runs when the ball struck his arm and he was rushed off to the hospital. While scans confirmed a fractured wrist, Vihari went against all odds to bat for his team. On Wednesday, Vihari took to his official Twitter handle and shared a clipping of his batting in the match. 

Hanuma Vihari’s tweet after batting left-handed for Andhra Pradesh goes viral

“Do it for the team. Do it for the bunch. Never give up!! Thank you everyone for your wishes. Means a lot,” Vihari captioned the video. Meanwhile, this was not the first time Vihari fought against injuries for the sake of his team. During the Border-Gavaskar trophy in the 2020-21 season, Vihari battled through pain and partnered Ravichandran Ashwin to secure a brilliant draw against Australia in Sydney. 

He has played a total of 16 test matches for India so far in his career, having made his debut back in 2018. He has registered 839 runs so far at an average of 33.6. He was not named in India’s squad for the first two Test matches against Australia.