Hanuma Vihari's mother built a cricket pitch for him after father's demise

Hanuma Vihari has seamlessly made his place in the Indian team. He made his debut during the tough times on England tour in 2018 and has featured in the Test matches for the national side more often than not. He has impressed many with his temperament and it seems like he has a long way to go at the highest level. However, success doesn’t come without sacrifices and that is what Vihari’s mother Vijaylakshi has done.

The Andhra lad was destined to play for India since his childhood itself if the people in his locality are to be believed. But when he was just 12 years old, calamity struck the Vihari family as the cricketer’s father Satyanarayana passed away. But then his mother didn’t get bogged down and backed her son to make sure he pursues his dreams.

While speaking to Cricbuzz, Hanuma Vihari revealed the anecdotes of his early life and how his mother has backed him to make it to the top. “The one thing that defines my mother is her daring. She is never scared. You could say it’s the hallmark of her identity,” he said.

It was my responsibility, says Hanuma Vihari’s mother

Vijaylakshi recalled the days when her husband passed away and during the same time, Hanuma Vihari had gone through a slump in the U13 cricket. This is where she understood that her son needed more time to practice and get better and built a cricket pitch for him from the money she got from her husband’s company.

To top it all, Vijaylakshi feels it was her responsibility to back her son and she never saw it as a sacrifice. And the move worked for Hanuma Vihari as the next time when he played at U13 state level, he topped the run charts in the competition.

“I received a lump sum from my husband’s company as compensation after he died. Around that time, Hanuma had just played U-13 cricket and hadn’t performed well. I knew that he needed more time to practice than he was getting at nets. So, I decided to use the lump sum to build a cricket pitch for him.

The next time he played at the U-13 state level, he was the highest run-getter in the tournament. That’s when I knew my effort had paid off,” Hanuma Vihari’s mother said. Vihari now has so far played nine Test matches for India scoring 552 runs at an average close to 37 with a century and four fifty-plus scores to his name.