• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Happy Birthday Hanuma Vihari Indias Forgotten Hero Who Snatched A Draw From The Jaws Of Defeat In Bgt 2020 21

Happy Birthday Hanuma Vihari: India's Forgotten Hero Who Snatched A Draw From The Jaws Of Defeat In BGT 2020-21

Hanuma Vihari and Ashwin during memorable stand in Sydney Test (Source:@paro_nair/X.com)Hanuma Vihari and Ashwin during memorable stand in Sydney Test (Source:@paro_nair/X.com)

Hanuma Vihari is one of the most underrated Indian cricketers. He has a first-class average of around 50 and played 13 of his 16 Test matches away from home. He played many gritty knocks under pressure in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries  and one of his most valiant knocks came in Sydney Test during BGT 2020-21. So, now on his 31st Birthday, let's look at how Hanuma Vihari put his body on the line to save India in the third Test of that four-match series.

India and Australia came into the third Test of the high-profile series with the scoreline of 1-1. Australia won the opening Test in Adelaide and India came back strongly in the second Test to level the series. Australia batted first and scored 338 with Steve Smith scoring a century. Jadeja picked four wickets for India but the visitors faltered in their first innings and were cleaned up for 244 as Aussie pace trio wreaked havoc. Australia then scored 312 in their second innings and India were set the target of 407 with four sessions remaining in the game.

India lost two wickets in the final session of Day 4 and had Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane at the crease to start the final day. Rahane though fell early and then Pant joined hands with Pujara to give India a real chance to win the game.

Vihari-Ashwin Battle Injuries To Salvage A Draw For The Ages

Pant and Pujara though fell in quick succession and with five down for 272, it looked like Australia will run away with the game. India still needed 135 runs to win and 41 overs were still left in the game and Jadeja was injured. However, that's where Ashwin and Vihari got together and displayed great character. Both of them were injured. Ashwin had an issue with his back while Hanuma Vihari had a torn hamstring. The middle order batter was struggling to even take a single run but did not leave the field and blocked and tackled everything that a rampant Aussie attack threw at him.

He batted for 161 balls in testing conditons and though he scored just 23 runs, his partnership with Ashwin who also faced 128 balls helped India salvage a crucial draw. One more wicket and India had only tailenders left and the partnership turned out to be a game-changer as India took the confidence of a draw to the next Test and went onto win at Gabba and register a consecutive Test series win in Australia.