A confident Hanuma Vihari is ready to bat at any position in IPL

He impressed everyone with his technically sound batting in England last year when he made his international debut. Hanuma Vihari came into a batting order that looked fragile in English conditions and hit a fifty in his debut Test innings. Even though India lost the Test at the Oval, yet Vihari (he also took three wickets in the match) made a mark of his own.

The batsman from Andhra Pradesh is also back in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year and will represent Delhi Capitals (DC). He remained unsold for three years primarily because of his sub-100 strike rate but now, Vihari has made a different identity of a bankable national team player and that has certainly helped his reputation.

The 25-year-old, who is yet to play in the limited-overs variants in international cricket, however, takes the low expectation from people as an advantage for it allows him to prove all wrong. “I think because of the slow strike-rate of the past, people won’t have expectations from me, which can be a great thing. I take it positively because now I have a chance to prove them all wrong,” India Today cited a report as quoting Vihari in an exclusive interview.

Vihari will certainly have to race with some of the most exciting talents in Indian cricket to find a place in the DC’s playing XI in the IPL this year. But his short international career so far has already taught him some deep lessons over how to accept challenges.

Vihari opened for India in Melbourne and that was a confidence-booster

Hanuma Vihari, for example, was asked to open the Indian innings in tough conditions in Melbourne against Australia in the Boxing Day Test last year. With India’s regular openers either absent because of injury or plagued by poor form, the management looked up to the middle-order batsman to do the job.

And though it was certainly a risky venture for a middle-order batsman and he failed in that game, scoring eight (off 66 balls) and 13 (off 45 balls) in the two innings, he certainly contributed in blunting the new-ball attack which helped the middle-order to flourish. He is now even ready to bat at any position in the IPL.

“On my part, I am really in a great mental space and a great position as far as my game is concerned. I am really well-prepared for everything right now,” Vihari, who recently slammed two hundreds (114 & 180 not out) in Irani Cup for Rest of India against Ranji champions Vidarbha, said.

Vihari conceded that it was tough opening for India at the MCG for balls came fast and high and the openers are in the firing line as the bowlers want early breakthroughs. “But it’s exciting as well because walking out there to bat in front of 80,000 people at the MCG is quite an unbelievable feeling. I didn’t sleep the previous night,” he said.

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