Products You May Like
When Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped during the home series against Sri Lanka early last year, Vihari replaced him at No. 3. It’s a spot he managed to hold on to for just three Tests, in which he made scores of 58, 31, 35, 20 and 11.
Vihari hasn’t played for India since that Test. His overall numbers read: 839 runs in 28 innings with five fifties and one hundred. At 29, Vihari is now trying to find a balance between manufacturing a comeback and trying to maximise every opportunity that comes his way.
Vihari isn’t one to hope for someone to fail for him to get his chance, but after months of letting the feeling of being dropped gnaw at him, he says he has learnt to let go and is now only focusing on starting afresh.
“This season, I want to keep everything aside and focus on my batting, try to get better at my skills and do what I’ve been doing best for the last 12 years in first-class cricket. If it happens, it happens. If not, I’ll try to keep getting better and help my state side or zone.”
“I thought whenever I got a chance, I did my best. Maybe my best was not good enough for the Indian team. But again, I will try to keep getting better. That’s all you can do as a sportsman.”
Hanuma Vihari on being dropped from the Indian Test team
Vihari admits finding motivation can be hard after being dropped. But he’s also aware there is no other way out but to find new answers to old questions.
“It’s very tough to be motivated. That’s where family really plays a part. They’ve been supportive, they understand what I’m going through. It’s a difficult phase. If anyone says we are motivated to come back, maybe they are.
“For me, it took a lot of time to understand why I was dropped and then to again get motivated to try and make a comeback. I try to work on my game both mentally and physically. Now I’m in a good space; I want to go out there and get runs. The rest I leave it to the selectors.”
“I’m not sure still,” Vihari said when asked if he’d found an answer to why he was left out. “I thought whenever I got a chance, I did my best. Maybe my best was not good enough for the Indian team. But again, I will try to keep getting better. That’s all you can do as a sportsman. Keep getting better in different aspects. I’ll continue doing that this coming season.
“Hope is always there until you retire that you can come back. I’m still 29 and have a lot of time to go. I’ve seen Ajinkya Rahane make a comeback at 35. I have a long way to go. I still feel I can contribute to the Indian side in the Test format, especially if I can get some runs in the domestic season.”
Vihari, though, knows he doesn’t have the benefit that Rahane enjoyed – an IPL season to further his case. He played the last of his 24 IPL games in 2019, aggregating 284 runs in the competition overall at a strike rate of 88.47, and has gone unsold at the auctions since. Vihari said he has worked on his white-ball game but perceptions that he is a “Test player” haven’t helped.
“You can’t do anything, I was doing commentary this season,” Vihari said when asked what one could possibly do in the situation he finds himself in, where he doesn’t play in the IPL.
“Everyone says ‘he’s a Test player’, they brand me as a Test player. I don’t think its fair. I have grown as a white-ball player as well, but many don’t believe that because they brand you as a certain player, only red-ball or white-ball. It’s not fair on both sides.
“A quality player can play all formats. If you’ve seen me over the years, I’ve been contributing to all teams. Hopefully I can make a comeback in IPL and white-ball to be seen more in public. Many players have been making a comeback in IPL and getting opportunities in red-ball cricket. Going forward, I want to play all formats. I want to be challenged in all formats. I’m just 29, I’m looking to make a comeback in all formats.”
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo