Communication between players and selectors has been one of the major flaws highlighted in Indian cricket before. Inida's Test team has got a fairly new look for their upcoming Test series against West Indies away from home. While senior player Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped, Mohammed Shami has been rested. A few other players have gone down pecking order over the last couple of years and one of them is Hanuma Vihari who is still figuring out the reason of him getting dropped from the team.
Vihari last played for India almost exactly a year ago against England in Birmingham and since then, has lost his place in the side. He is best remembered for his match-saving knock against Australia in Sydney during the famlous series win in 2020-21 tour down under. Vihari scored 20 and 11 runs in his last Test for India while batting at number three and didn't get many chances at the said position.
He played 16 Tests overall scoring 839 runs at an average of 33.56 with a century and five half-centuries to his name. Speaking about his axe from the Indian team, Vihari said, "For me, it took a lot of time to understand why I was dropped and then to again get motivated to try and make a comeback. I try to work on my game both mentally and physically. Now I'm in a good space; I want to go out there and get runs. The rest I leave it to the selectors.
"I'm not sure still. I thought whenever I got a chance, I did my best. Maybe my best was not good enough for the Indian team. But again, I will try to keep getting better. That's all you can do as a sportsman. Keep getting better in different aspects. I'll continue doing that this coming season."
However, Vihari is not giving up on his place in the Indian team and is working hard to make a comeback. He has taken Ajinkya Rahane's example to return to the Test team and wants to keep on performing to seek selectors' attention. He is currently featuring in the Duleep Trophy and took his team to the final on a tense final day with a 43-run knock.
"Hope is always there until you retire that you can come back. I'm still 29 and have a lot of time to go. I've seen Ajinkya Rahane make a comeback at 35. I have a long way to go. I still feel I can contribute to the Indian side in the Test format, especially if I can get some runs in the domestic season," Vihari further added.
