There was a huge debate on the selection of Hanuma Vihari over Karun Nair for the fifth test at Oval, but facing all the pressure, Vihari made 56 runs in his debut to shut the critics. He has revealed that a phone call to Rahul Dravid relieved him and helped him get the maiden fifty that rescued India from a tricky situation.
The Andhra captain scored 56 runs and stitched a 77-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja(86*) to take India’s total to 292 runs. However, England holds the upper hand in the match with a lead of 154 runs.
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Talking to Rahul Dravid eased my nerves- Vihari
“I called him the day before I made my debut. He spoke to me for a couple of minutes and I thought it eased my nerves a little bit. He is a legend of the game; and his inputs especially in the batting department (helped me),” Vihari said Sunday of the influence of the former captain, who is currently the India A coach.
“He just told me that ‘you have the skill set; you have the mind set and the temperament, just go out there and enjoy yourself’…I would like to give him a lot of credit because my journey with India A was very important for me to come here, his inputs made me a better player.”
Vihari revealed that he was nervous facing the likes of Stuart Broad and James Anderson in his debut test match.
“They are world-class bowlers. They have 990-odd wickets between them. Going out to bat, I just wanted to be positive in my intent. Especially when Virat is there, you just have to be there with him, rotate the strike and try to build a partnership.
Crediting Virat for his guidance
“Having Virat at the other made my job a little easier I guess. His inputs helped me initially. He gave me some cues so that I could play it comfortably,” he said.
“I will give a lot of credit to him for helping me out initially. But once I settled down, the wicket was very good to bat on especially with the medium pacers it got a lot slower yesterday,” he added.
