Watch: Hanuma Vihari uses bat like a sword, reverse sweeps, hits fours in another gritty innings despite fractured arm
During his gritty knock, even the opposition team lauded Vihari by giving a standing ovation. Commentators went on to compare his batting style while playing a reverse sweep to the swing of a sword. And a video of the same shot went viral on social media.
In a terrific show of mental strength and never-say-die attitude, Hanuma Vihari despite suffering from a fracture to his left forearm, batted once again in Andhra's second innings against Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-final of the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Vihari came in to bat as the 11th player when his team were reeling under at 76/9. The Andhra captain switched from batting right-handed to left-handed to avoid his left hand from getting exposed first up and scored 15 off 16 balls which included three boundaries as well.
With his gutsy effort, Andhra added valuable runs and were eventually bowled out for 93, having achieved the lead of 244 runs. During his innings, even the opposition team lauded Vihari by giving a standing ovation. Commentators went on to compare his batting style while playing a reverse sweep to the swing of a sword. And a video of his shot went viral on social media.
After his exemplary display of team spirit, Vihari took to Twitter to post a video containing iconic moments of his batting during the match. "Do it for the team. Do it for the bunch. Never give up!!Thank you everyone for your wishes. Means a lot!!," he captioned the Twitter post.
The 29-year-old had sustained the fracture to his arm in the first innings while trying to negotiate an Avesh Khan bouncer. But even then, he scored 27 off 57 balls and stitched a crucial partnership with the tail-ender Lalith Mohan. His gutsy effort had helped Andhra reach 379/10 in the first innings, including centuries from batters Karan Shinde and Ricky Bhui. Madhya Pradesh were then bowled out for 228 runs in their first innings as bowler Prithvi Raj claimed a fifer.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Vihari has done something so heroic and gritty. He had given a glimpse of his team spirit when he batted with a torn hamstring and helped India draw the Sydney Test of Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in 2021.
