Hanuma Vihari emulated former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith as he came out to bat with fractured left hand wrist on Day 2 of Ranji Trophy 2022-23 quarter final. Vihari who got injured in the first session of Day 1 by Avesh Khan’s bouncer turned left-handed on Day 2 as Andhra Pradesh suffered a batting collapse losing eight wickets for just 30 runs.
Vihari got retired hurt for 16 runs off 37 deliveries came out to bat when Andhra had lost nine wickets. With no.10 batter Lalith Mohan, the skipper led the fightback. Avesh even tried to bowl a yorker but Vihari took his left-hand off the handle and manage to score a boundary towards off side.
Andhra managed to post 379 in the first innings. The partnership for the 11th wicket was 26 as Vihari had added 11 runs to his score. He hit two boundaries while batting left-handed. He scored 27 runs off 57 deliveries and was trapped in front of the stumps by Saransh Jain. A video of him hitting a boundary has been making rounds on social media.
DK applauds
Earlier, Vihari was lauded by India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik who tweeted: “Batting LEFT handed and also more importantly just with one hand, the top hand. Bravery to another level.”
Not the first time
However, this is not the first time Vihari has soldiered on despite getting injured. At Sydney Cricket Ground, Vihari batted with a hamstring injury against Australian pacers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood. Along with Ravichandran Ashwin who also had a back injury, endured Aussie pace attack to draw the Test.
Smith’s heroics in Sydney
In 2009, Proteas captain Smith came out to bat at no.11 with a broken hand to stun the Sydney Cricket Ground. South Africa were nine wickets down in the fourth innings and not much time was left in Day 5’s play.
Smith faced thunderbolts from left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson and managed to stay at the crease for 26 minutes. Johnson managed to break through Smith's defense with only 11 minutes left on the clock. The southpaw scored three runs from 17 deliveries. South Africa lost the game but Smith earned Ricky Ponting-led side's respect.
