It was a tough pill to swallow for Indian Test batsman Hanuma when he found no buyers in the recently held IPL 2020 auction. Vihari has had a great start to his Test career but could not get any contract in the IPL 2020. The right-hander was bought by Delhi Capitals in IPL 2018 auction for his base price of INR 2 crores but he was later released. The Andhra skipper had kept his base price at INR 50 lakhs.
The reason is known to be Vihari’s strike rate as he scored his runs at 88.47 in the IPL and his inability to force the pace in the shortest form of the game. However, Vihari knows IPL snub is not in his hands. But IPL has always been a great platform and good performances in the cash-rich tournament have often led to the opening of doors for a player on the national side.
Vihari has got a solid technique.
Vihari is not a big hitter of the ball and there is no tag of ‘six-hitter’ on his cricketing resume. The right-hander has scored 39 sixes in 74 List A matches and 31 sixes from 74 T20s. Ergo, the writing was always on the wall.
However, Vihari is trying his best to keep himself in the best mindset. Vihari said he tries to play with all his heart irrespective of the team or the level he is playing at.
“You can’t really say it doesn’t hurt. (But) my mentality is such that I try to play whatever game I get the opportunity to play. If I get the opportunity to play for Andhra, I try to play the game with all my heart. And if I get a game for India, I try to play that with all my heart. I’m that kind of a character. So I don’t really think about an IPL contract, why am I not getting picked. You can only do those things that are in your control. I don’t really know what is ‘IPL-qualified’ batting. But I will not change my game, because I bat for my team. And I only think about the team I’m playing for and bat accordingly,” Vihari told Indian express.
Hanuma Vihari has grabbed his opportunities with both hands and he is expected to get a place in the final XI in the overseas conditions. Vihari was the leading run-scorer on the West Indies tour as he scored 289 runs but he didn’t get a lot of chances in the home conditions against South Africa and Bangladesh because of the team combination but he didn’t sleep over it.
Vihari will like to keep up the good show.
“It wasn’t frustrating at all. You have to understand the situation again. When you play at home, you have to play five bowlers. So one batsman will miss out and that usually be the No. 6 batsman. I understand the team combination. As long as we win, we never have a problem.”
Hanuma Vihari has a solid batting technique under his repertoire and he would like to continue his good show. The right-hander is currently leading Andhra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. His next assignment will be the tour of New Zealand for two four-day matches., where he will lead the India A side. It will be a great opportunity for Vihari to get used to the conditions.