NEWS
Hanuma Vihari is an Indian cricketer who regularly features in the national cricket team. A right-hand batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler, Hanuma is also the captain of Andhra Pradesh cricket team. After making his test cricket debut for India in September 2018 against England, he earned praises from cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. Vihari was a member of the Indian team that won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup at Australia in 2012.
He was born on 13th October 1993 in the coastal city of Kakinada. Hanuma Vihari began showing serious interest in cricket at the young age of 5, eventually forcing his parents to shift their base to Hyderabad. His father once took him to watch Ambati Rayudu play at the Gymkhana ground in Hyderabad. Watching Rayudu bat further ignited a spark in him to pursue cricket for the rest of his life.
After moving to Hyderabad, Hanuma was initially training at late Nagesh Hammond’s academy. However, he was unable to continue taking the camps and introduced Hanuma to John Manoj of the St John’s Academy.
-- Advertisement --
Manoj had seen the potential in Hanuma Vihari and knew that he was born to achieve greatness. Knowing that it was difficult for his parents to afford his education and cricket simultaneously, John approached the management of St Andrew’s School. Manoj, also being the Director of Sports of the school, was able to convince the management to admit Hanuma in the school.
Hanuma sadly lost his father when he was 12. During this time, he was heavily invested in playing cricket. The principal of his school clearly remembered Hanuma coming back the next day after his father’s demise and scoring 80 runs in a game to help his school win.
During his time playing for the St Andrew’s School, Hanuma scored a double century in the U-14 category of a tournament. Under his captaincy, the cricket team won many trophies in inter-school championships.
Along with maternal uncle, Hanuma was raised by his mother, who was fully aware of his passion for cricket. She didn’t stop him from achieving his dream. His mother said that he left home at a very young age to pursue a career in cricket.
“He had an obsession for batting long hours and even as a five-year-old, he showed extra interest in the game. Seeing his passion for cricket, we decided to move to the city. I’m very happy that he could fulfil his late father Satyanarayana’s dreams. My son had a single-minded devotion to play for the country. He would get up from bed with a bat in his hand,” said his mother.
Hanuma kept on playing and racked up runs under his name. His hard work finally paid off when he was picked up by Hyderabad state team in 2010 and also captained the side on numerous occasions. He is not only a batsman and a bowler but has also trained to do wicketkeeping. Under his captaincy in a first-class game, he decided to remove the wicket-keeper to accommodate Pragyan Ojha, and Vihari took it upon himself to do the keeping.
In 2012 Hanuma was selected ahead of injured Manan Vohra for the U-19 World Cup. However, Vihari could not impress much. India won the U-19 World Cup in Australia for the 3rd time under Unmukt Chand’s captaincy.
The World Cup disappointment didn’t last too long for Hanuma. He was purchased by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 for the 6th edition of the IPL. In a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, bowling as an off-spinner, Hanuma picked Chris Gayle’s wicket who could score only 1. In the same game, Vihari scored 46 runs while chasing
He had a good season for the team, scoring 241 runs in 17 matches which included 2 man-of-the-match performances. Despite the decent run, he was not picked by the IPL side in the following year and played only 5 games after returning to the side for the 2015 edition.
Not being able to play in the IPL was not Hanuma’s issue as he scored plenty of runs in first-class cricket. Playing against Odisha in 2017-2018 for the Andhra team, he scored his first triple-century. In the same season, he was the leading run-getter for Andhra with 752 runs in 6 matches.
Hanuma’s dream of playing for India came true once again in August 2018, as he was picked by for the final 2 test matches against England. He made his debut against England on 7th September 2018 in the 5th test match. In that game, he scored his maiden half-century, 56 off 124 balls, in the first innings. He became the final bowler in test cricket to dismiss Alastair Cook who is England’s highest ever run-scorer.
His dream run of playing for India continued. In October he was picked for the B team that competed in the Deodhar Trophy. Following that, a couple of months later he was purchased by the re-branded Delhi Capitals team in December 2018, to feature for their 2019 campaign.
With his consistent performances impressing selectors, he was once again picked for India’s Test squad against West Indies. Vihari scored 93 runs off 128 balls in the 2nd innings of the first test match, giving West Indies a target of 419 runs with only 1 day left to play. He proved to be reliable once again, as he scored his maiden test ton in Jamaica.
Since making his test debut in August 2018, Hanuma has played 12 innings for the Indian team, scoring 466 runs as a batsman with a high score of 111. As a bowler, he has only managed to pick 5 wickets in 10 innings. Vihari is a long term solution for India’s test team woes, he is an impact player who loves staying on the crease and smashing runs. Hanuma will age fine with time and be a permanent squad player for the Indian team we hope.
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 7 | 12 | 1 | 466 | 111 | 42.36 | 967 | 48.19 | 1 | 3 | 59 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| First-class | 76 | 120 | 15 | 6282 | 302* | 59.82 | 12787 | 49.12 | 19 | 30 | 693 | 41 | 74 | 1 |
| List A | 72 | 70 | 8 | 2868 | 169 | 46.25 | 3456 | 82.98 | 4 | 18 | 274 | 39 | 26 | 0 |
| T20s | 73 | 72 | 7 | 1309 | 81 | 20.13 | 1174 | 111.49 | 0 | 4 | 118 | 27 | 29 | 2 |
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 7 | 10 | 345 | 180 | 5 | 3/37 | 3/38 | 36 | 3.13 | 69 | – | – | – |
| First-class | 76 | 57 | 1916 | 1007 | 26 | 3/17 | 3/24 | 38.73 | 3.15 | 73.6 | – | – | – |
| List A | 72 | 30 | 914 | 712 | 19 | 3/31 | 3/31 | 37.47 | 4.67 | 48.1 | – | – | – |
| T20s | 73 | 32 | 408 | 500 | 22 | 3/21 | 3/21 | 22.72 | 7.35 | 18.5 | – | – | – |
The BCCI launched the categorized salary package for Indian cricketers only last year. It divides the total contracted Indian players into four categories Grade A+, Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C. Hanuma Vihari falls under the Grade C category, which means he receives a salary of ₹ 1 Cr per annum playing for India. In 2013, 2015 and 2019 editions of IPL, he received a total of around ₹ 3,800,000
Hanuma lost his father, Satyanarayana at a young age of 12. He was raised by his mother Vijayalakshmi, who was his major support system. Vijayalakshmi runs a clothing store in Hyderabad. He married his girlfriend, Preethi Raj on May 2019. Vihari also has 2 dogs a golden retriever and a dalmatian.
Recent Post
