India tour of South Africa: Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has reckoned that Hanuma Vihari should play ahead of Shreyas Iyer during the India tour of South Africa because he has played crucial knocks for the team in the past. Follow India vs South Africa live on InsideSport.IN.
India tour of South Africa: Sanjay Bangar backs Hanuma Vihari to bat ahead of Shreyas Iyer, says ‘he saved Sydney Test on one leg’
Shreyas Iyer has made a strong case for himself to feature in the playing eleven against South Africa after scoring a hundred in his debut Test match against New Zealand in November this year.
Hanuma Vihari, on the other hand, after being not picked for the home Test series against the Kiwis, scored back-to-back three fifties during India A’s just-concluded tour of South Africa. The middle-order batsman was picked in India’s 18-member Test squad for the all-important tour which kicks start from December 26 in Centurion.
Bangar is of the opinion that 28-year-old Vihari has played several crucial knocks for India in the past. The former India batsman recalled the Sydney Test against Australia in January this year.
On the final day of the match, Vihari battled a severe hamstring injury, took an injection which made his leg so numb that he could not even feel it. However, the Hyderabad batsman partnered for unbeaten 62 runs off 258 balls with Ravichandran Ashwin and saved the nail-biting match for India. Vihari’s marathon effort saw him scoring 23 not out runs off 161 balls.
“If the choice has to be between Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari, I would tilt towards Hanuma Vihari because of the kind of service he has done. He deserves that chance to bat ahead of Shreyas Iyer in an overseas Test match,” Bangar said on Star Sports’ show Game Plan.
“Look at Hanuma Vihari. He is somebody who has played the hard yards, who has got a hundred in West Indies, he saved a Test match for you in Sydney.
“Whenever he was asked to open the innings, he did that. He played on a single leg to save a Test match and he got a hundred,” Bangar said.
After recovering from the injury, Hanuma Vihari was part of India’s England tour but the right-hander did not get any game to play.
The Andhra Pradesh-born has played 12 Test matches for India so far and scored 624 runs at an average of 32.84. He has four fifties and a hundred to his name.
India tour of South Africa: Sanjay Bangar backs Hanuma Vihari to bat ahead of Shreyas Iyer, says ‘he saved Sydney Test on one leg’
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