The 24-year-old Hanuma Vihari has finally made his way into the national Test team after strings of good performances in the longest format of the game. In the fifth and final Test of India's tour of England, Virat Kohli chose to bring fresh talent Vihari in the playing XI, replacing all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Vihari became the 292nd player for India to wear the Test cap. The visitors are already 1-3 down in the five-match series and it is a battle to restore pride for the Indian team.
Pandya had performed poorly in the Southampton Test and was just average before that, and with Vihari in, the Indian team will get a boost in their batting line up. The biggest problem for India throughout the tour has been lack of character shown by the Indian batsmen except for Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Vihari has an exceptional record in first-class cricket with an average of 59.79. He has scored 15 centuries with the highest score of 302*. The 24-year-old has been captaining the Andhra Pradesh side from quite some time now. In the recent South Africa A tour, he played an astonishing knock of 148 runs and took his team over the victory line. Vihari's inclusion to the Indian side will increase the depth in the batting order as Pandya has not lived up to the expectations with bat. Pandya threw his wicket away at crucial junctures, failing the team when it needed him the most.
Here are some interesting facts about India's 292nd Test player Hanuma Vihari that you need to know.
1. After 19 years, an Andhra Pradesh player has been selected in India's Test squad. Current Chief Selector MSK Prasad was the last one to represent Andhra Pradesh in the Test side.
2. Hanuma Vihari is above all contemporary cricketers in terms of first-class cricket average, with 59.79 he is on top of the table and behind him is suspended Australian batsman Steve Smith who is at 57.27.
3. Hanuma Vihari was the part of Sunrisers Hyderabad in Indian Premier League but as a classic batsman, he didn't have a good record there and scored just 280 runs with a poor average of 15.55.
4. In IPL, he picked up the wicket of destructive West Indies batsman Chris Gayle and it remains his only wicket in the tournament.
5. In the 2017-2018 Ranji Trophy, Vihari was in the form of his life and scored 750 runs in just six matches with a mind-blowing average of 94, that also includes his highest first-class score of 302*.
