Earlier this year against England at the Kennington Oval, Hanuma Vihari made his international debut and despite playing just 3 international matches, he has already had an eventful stint in national colors. After notching a half-century against the Brits, he didn’t play the next two home Tests against Windies.
However, Vihari was back for the four-match Test series against Australia. After the selection committee preferred Rohit Sharma ahead of him at Adelaide Oval, he broke into the playing XI for the Perth Test, which India lost by 146 runs. The third Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is currently underway and Hanuma was sent to open the batting with debutant Mayank Agarwal.
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Nevertheless, the youngster didn’t have a memorable outing as an opener for the reason that he could only manage to take 8 runs from 66 balls after which Pat Cummins accounted for his wicket. He showed some grit in the middle and built a stand of 40 in 18.5 overs with Agarwal. During the knock, he had to face some brutal deliveries, one of which came from Cummins in the 13th over.
Cummins dug in a short ball with all his might. But the red cherry didn’t bounce off the track. Vihari was late in identifying the length and he was clearly didn’t get in position. Subsequently, he tried to take evasive action and moved his face backwards. Unfortunately, the ball smacked the side part of his helmet and went quite a distance away. He was batting on three at that stage.
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Cummins rushed to him and enquired about the batsman’s well-being. Patrick Farhat, the Indian physiotherapist, came out on an immediate basis and had a close look at the injured batter. Even on-field umpire Ian Gould went up to Vihari and asked him whether he’s fine or not. After the treatment, Vihari was up and running and he resumed his knock that lasted for 24 more balls.
Here is the video of the delivery:
