Ranji Trophy: Hanuma Vihari opens up on his knock of pain against Madhya Pradesh

In sport, captains always remain under pressure to lead by example and that often results in their undoing. But at times they manage to put up such inspiring performances that one can really doff their hats in admiration. Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihari displayed one such performance recently when his side took on the defending champions Madhya Pradesh in the fourth quarter final of the ongoing Ranji Trophy.

Vihari displayed immense tenacity as he came out to bat in the middle in both the innings during the game despite a wrist fracture. The right-handed batter fought really hard and batted one-handed as a place in the semi-finals was up for grabs. Although his heroic effort didn't turn out to be enough to propel his side to the semis, he has received plenty of praise from the Indian cricketing fraternity.

Vihari scored 27 runs off 57 balls in the first innings and got out to Saransh Jain as Andhra posted 379 runs. In the second innings, he again got out to Saransh after scoring 15 off 16 balls.

Chasing 245 to win the game, Madhya Pradesh won the match by five wickets. Vihari spoke to Aakash Chopra after the culmination of the game and revealed the fact that the team physio had asked him not to bat but despite that, he walked out for the team's cause.

“When I said that I wanted to bat, the physio told me 10 times that my career might be at risk if I am hit on the hand again while batting. I told the physio that there is no problem if I don't play cricket after this match but if I give up for Andhra in this match, it will be in my heart forever,” Vihari mentioned during the interaction on JioCinema.

Speaking about his decision to bat in the second innings of the match, Vihari said that he wanted to contribute to the team's cause and felt that his contribution could have come in handy in deciding the outcome of the game.

"I was devastated because it was a quarterfinal match, such an important match for Andhra and I was not able to bat. I thought it would be an advantage even if I could add 10 runs for the team for the last wicket and I took that decision. If you have to do it for the team, you get the courage," said Vihari.

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