CHENNAI: Talk about India really rolling the dice in crunch games this year. If handing Rishabh Pant keeping gloves was their punt in Nottingham, they’ve one-upped that with a completely new top-two for Melbourne: Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari.Though fielding Agarwal is justified in the absence of runs from KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, it’s the promotion of Vihari that has set tongues wagging.
He was No 6 in both London and Perth, and even during India’s practice game against Cricket Australia XI in Sydney. He came in at two-drop during India A’s tour of New Zealand. His name constantly appears third on Andhra’s batting line-up.
Heck, in eight years of first-class cricket, he’s opened only twice. And one of those occasions stemmed from sheer necessity. K Sumanth had come in first and also kept for 200-odd overs for Hyderabad in that 2013-14 Ranji Trophy clash against Rajasthan. The stumper would have needed a new set of glutes, knees and back if Vihari had not stepped in in the fourth innings.
One may argue that the other instance — last year’s Duleep Trophy — saw him bat out nearly seven hours during his 227-ball 105 for India Blue. But “Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Chama Milind and Vijay Gohil” doesn’t sound the same as “Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon”.But K Srikar Bharat, one of his travel companions during that India A tour, believes that his domestic teammate for the past three years has what it takes to weather the storm.
“The reason behind his stellar record in the first-class format (5,402 runs at 58.71) is his compact technique. He plays close to the body and inside the line, and has good wrists. Those are some of his strengths. That way, he mitigates the chances of being trapped in front,” explains the Andhra and India A stumper-batsman.
“That apart, Vihari also has a solid front-foot game. In Australia, strike bowlers will tend to go full first up, instead of back-of-length deliveries. With all this, I think he is definitely equipped to play out a good amount of time before others come in.”
Those India obligations (A and the real deal) in themselves also give hope of Vihari pulling off this temporary transition to the top. Both the Australia warm-up game and the New Zealand unofficial Test saw the 25-year-old graft his way to solid fifties. He played out more balls in Perth than KL Rahul and Murali Vijay put together. And, that steady half-century at the Oval had drawn its fair share of the spotlight, even if the match had no stakes involved.
According to Ricky Bhui, those outings and the numerous other times Vihari has risen to the occasion for both his domestic teams showcase another attribute that will help him survive this trial by fire.
“Discipline,” elaborates Vihari’s fellow batsman for Andhra. “You don’t get a triple ton at the domestic level without a certain level of technical proficiency. But what stands out from his game is his ability to put a price on his wicket. He makes bowlers work hard to get it. He’s stylish, but he brings out those shots only when they are really needed. Plus, the role he’s played at No 3 for us isn’t very different from opening. There have been times when he’s walked in really early and rescued the team. I think he’ll be able to do the same in Melbourne.”
Chief selector MSK Prasad has said that there’ll still be light at the end of Vihari’s tunnel even if he fails in this Test. But, who wants to end the year as the Grinch, when you get the chance to be Santa Claus and give India one hell of a post-Christmas gift?