Hanuma Vihari has been part of the Indian Test cricket set-up since 2018. However, since making his debut against England that year, the 28-year-old Vihari has played only 15 Tests in the last three-and-half years, scoring 808 runs at an average of 35.13. He has scored one century and five half-centuries. Despite showing the ability to play solid defensive knocks in the middle-order, Vihari has never been able to consolidate his place in the playing XI. Injuries and presence of other senior players in middle-order, have often seen Vihari sitting out.
Vihari is now part of India’s 17-member Test squad for the fifth rescheduled Test against England to be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham from July 1-5. India currently lead the Test series 2-1.
It’s a massive opportunity for him, and former Indian cricket team captain Mohammed Azharuddin feels he needs to grab it with both hands.
“It’s very important for him to get the big scores,” Azharuddin was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.
“He has to score hundreds to grab the chance. Scoring only 50s and 60s is not really going to help him. He is an outstanding player. But you can play for India for a long time only when you get the big runs consistently,” the ex-India captain told reporters in Dubai on Thursday.
After the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, the top Indian cricketers are gearing up for back-to-back bilateral series. The Indian cricket team will first face South Africa at home in a five-match T20I series starting on June 9, followed by the Tour of England. After the Test, India and England will also play a T20I and an ODI series. So far, the squads for the SA T20I series and the Test against England have been announced.
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India’s Test squad vs England: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain) Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
India’s T20I squad for SA series: KL Rahul (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain)(wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
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