File photo of Hanuma Vihari.
Indian Test specialist Hanuma Vihari must be feeling relaxed after a gruelling Australia-India series, which saw the visitors triumph 2-1 few days ago. Hanuma, who couldn't participate in the final Test due to a hamstring injury, still was among the stars from the series as his valiant efforts alongside Ravichandran Ashwin helped India salvage a draw at the SCG in the third Test.
The knock couldn't have come at a better time as his performance came into question after failure in the first two Tests. Talking about the knock in an interview with Sports Today, the right-handed batsman recalled how he was praised by his mentor and Indian batting pioneer Rahul Dravid in a text after the match and that certainly made his day.
"Even after the Sydney Test, it was nice of him to send me a text. He said ‘Very well done, you did a great job’. That is the person he is and I respect him for that," Vihari said.
Vihari further credit Dravid for being that bridge that connected India A and Ranji players with the complexity and hardness of international cricket.
"I mean, after getting picked in the India A side. Those who were there in the side, Siraj, Saini, Shubman, Mayank, everyone who were part of that side played a lot of cricket together in India A. Also, in the last 3-4 years, we played many India A tours and he was the coach (Rahul Dravid). I don’t think we played so many India A tours before. So that bridged the gap between Ranji Trophy and the Indian team.
"We made the progress quickly. That’s the reason why we are playing our first game or the second game, we are ready for the challenge. We are not behind any other players. He made it possible," he explained.
