Hanuma Vihari, a batter for India, posted a motivational message on social media after he showed incredible grit and determination while batting with one hand after suffering a wrist injury during his team’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Madhya Pradesh. The message urged others to “never give up” and was in response to his performance during the match.
In addition, he expressed his gratitude to everyone for their well-wishes and praise following the injury that he had sustained and for his courageous decision to remain on the field of play despite the injury.
Tweeting the message “Do it for the team. Do it for the bunch. Never give up!! Thank you everyone for your wishes. Means a lot!!” while posting a video of himself walking up to the plate and batting one-handed, Hanuma thanked everyone for their support and said that he would “never give up.”
Hanuma Vihari, a batter for India, brought back memories of his bravery and determination during the third Test of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia when he batted left-handed after sustaining a fracture on his left wrist during his side Andhra Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday. This performance brought back memories of Hanuma Vihari’s heroics and determination during the third Test of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
Hanuma does not find himself in the squad for the defence of the BGT trophy starting from February 9 onwards at home in Nagpur in 2023; however, many people were inspired by his sheer grit and gutsy batting during that year’s competition.
He had batted with a torn hamstring during that famous test match in Sydney in order to force a draw while his team was chasing a target of 407 runs.
He had played a knock of 23 runs in 161 deliveries and had collaborated with all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin to assist India in avoiding defeat and finishing the match at 334/5. Ravichandran Ashwin had also played a role in this.
After suffering an injury to his left wrist the previous time while attempting to block a bouncer from pacer Avesh Khan, he made his way back to the crease for this round.
After he got back into the game, he batted with a left-handed stance in order to protect his left arm, which would have been exposed to the bowler if he had continued to play as the right-hander he is.
When the X-ray revealed that he had a fracture, he had already reached 16 out of 37 balls when he was forced to leave the field. He was informed that the injury would keep him out of action for between five and six weeks. The management of the team also came to the conclusion that Hanuma would only bat when it was absolutely necessary to do so.
Andhra Pradesh’s performance on day two was encouraging, as evidenced by their score of 323/2 at one point. Ricky Bhui (149) and Karan Shinde both scored centuries for the team (110). However, a collapse brought the AP score to 353/9.
At this point, Hanuma went back to the crease while his left hand was being completely taped. He utilised only his right hand for tapping the deliveries.
He and the number nine batsman, Lalith Mohan, put together a stand of 26 runs in 10 overs. AP was traded for 379 in the deal. Vihari’s innings came to an end with a total score of 27 runs scored in 57 balls. Even Avesh was a target of his, as he struck him twice.
Mohan refrained from delivering the strike near the end of the round in order to protect Hanuma’s wrist from any potential injury.
At this point in the game, Madhya Pradesh has been given a target score of 245 runs in order to win. The AP team was unable to score more than 93 runs in the second inning of the game.
In spite of his injury, Hanuma continued to bat and ended up scoring 15 runs in 16 total balls, including three four-base hits. After taking a lead of 151 runs over MP in the first inning, these 93 runs brought it up to a total of 244 runs.
