Hanuman Vihari injured during Ranjhi Trophy: Hanuma Vihari comes out with a broken arm, bats left-handed, and holds off MP for 40 minutes.
Madhya Pradesh, the defending Ranji Trophy winner, was caught off guard. They finally did it on Wednesday at noon. Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari arrived with a broken left forearm to face seamer Avesh Khan, who had caused the injury on Tuesday.
Hanuman Vihari injured during Ranjhi Trophy Elite quarterfinal and had to withdraw on 16. Scans indicated that he had a fracture that would keep him out of commission for four to five weeks.
“There is no hope” (he can bat). But knowing him, he may simply walk out if he believes the team requires it. He has not yet agreed to a PoP (Plaster of Paris) and is working with a cast for the time being,” an Andhra official said.
Vihari did, however, bat, although left-handed. To protect his damaged arm, the 29-year-old right-handed hitter assumed a southpaw’s guard. In the rough and tumble of domestic first-class cricket, the decision appeared brave and a show of determination.
Vihari and disobedience aren’t strangers. Alongside a hamstring injury, he stumbled but held on with Ravichandran Ashwin to enable India rescue a tense tie against Australia in Sydney in 2021.
Vihari had approximately 40 minutes added to the lesson.
He described his gambit once the game was over. “My hand is completely fractured. It’s located on the forearm. The doctor had instructed me not to bat, and our physio had also urged me not to. But as the wickets fell, I had an epiphany: “Why not bat left-handed with a single hand?” You just never know. It wouldn’t matter whether I faced 10-15 balls, even if it meant an additional 10 runs. My major goal was to set a good example. If I quit up, the team spirit will suffer. But if I go out there in the middle and get out first ball, even if I don’t get any runs, that’s not an issue.
But it was crucial for me to be there and set an example,” Vihari told Sportstar.
While he did not play later, stand-in skipper Ricky Bhui was well backed by his seamers, who took four key wickets, and MP finished the day on 144, behind by 235.
Following his injury on Day 1, Vihari praised Bhui and Karan Shinde’s third-wicket partnership. Bhui (149) and Shinde (110) combined for 251 runs. After breaking the partnership, MP bowlers got seven wickets in an hour, leaving Andhra at 353 for nine minutes before lunch.
Also read: After Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out from the three-match series, internet users criticised the BCCI.
The Holkar Stadium turf was rated as a decent sports wicket by Vihari. “There’s something for the bowlers and batsmen may also get runs if they play well.
We demonstrated this by the manner Ricky and Karan batted. I believe it will remain the same tomorrow. It was an important partnership; 251 runs on this wicket were not easy. It’s not easy for the new hitters either, as seen today.”
He stressed the importance of Andhra not losing focus and cautioned against reading too much into a probable first-inning advantage.
“I don’t think the game will be decided by the first innings. It’s a five-day event. Every session is crucial. We need to grab the remaining (six) wickets tomorrow and then bat effectively. Bat well and take them out of the game should be our strategy. We shouldn’t be satisfied with a first-inning advantage.”