Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was not surprised with the exclusion of Hanuma Vihari from Team India’s squad for the home Test series against New Zealand. He also stated that since Vihari didn’t play in IPL 2021, he remained “out of sight and out of mind” of the national selectors as well.
Notably, Hanuma Vihari has helped India draw the Sydney Test in his last match for India. Meanwhile, players like Shreyas Iyer and Jayant Yadav have been added but they haven’t played much red-ball cricket too. While talking about that to Sports Today, he shared his views as well.
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Sunil Gavaskar said: “I really was not surprised to be honest because he hasn’t played any cricket in the interim. He hasn’t played in the IPL so hasn’t had any cricket under his belt in the last three or four months. On the other hand, the others who have been selected have had some cricket, not necessarily Test cricket, so maybe that’s the reason why they came into the picture. Also, a lot of times we have seen over the years that the performances in the IPL have invariably been the ones that nudge the selection committee so that seems to have happened. Hanuma Vihari hasn’t played a single IPL game so out of sight, out of mind.”
However, Hanuma Vihari hasn’t played in the IPL since 2019 when he played for the Delhi Capitals in two games. He has featured in 24 IPL games so far, amassing 284 runs which came at an average of 14.20. And, he went unsold in the 2020 auction. Meanwhile, the BCCI later added him to the India ‘A’ squad for a tour of South Africa.
The India ‘A’ team, which also included the young players like Prithvi Shaw and Rahul Chahar, will take on South Africa ‘A’ in three four-day matches from November 23 to December 9 in Bloemfontein. And, Sunil Gavaskar said that India ‘A’ call-up is a “big advantage” for Hanuma Vihari, saying scoring runs in South Africa would keep him ready for an international comeback as well.
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“I think if he’s playing and scoring in the ‘A’ team, that’s very good. He’ll be playing in the same conditions, will get some match practice under his belt. He’ll get a feel of the conditions, the pitch conditions, and everything. And therefore he’ll be absolutely ready in case he’s called for the Test team. So that’s a big advantage for him going to South Africa with the ‘A’ team,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.
