Warwickshire has signed Hanuma Vihari, who went unsold in the IPL auctions for the 2021 season of the County Championship. He will play a minimum of three games, but there is a possibility that he may feature in more games as the contract is being chalked out.
Hanuma Vihari was one of the only few active Indian players to have gone unsold in the IPL auctions for the 2021 season. He was a part of the Delhi Capitals squad in the IPL 2019, but he was released after playing just two games in the season.
The Indian Test specialist who made his Test debut in August 2018 in England went unsold in the auctions for the 2020 and 2021 season. Cheteshwar Pujara also got a bid as Chennai Super Kings scalped the Indian Test No. 3 for his base price of INR 50 lakhs. However, Vihari found no buyers.
Thus, the Kakinada-born batsman is set to play a few games in England. Warwickshire has signed up Vihari and he will play a handful of games before the Indian team flies out to the UK for the World Test Championship final and the five-match Test series against England.
He is likely to play at least three games for Warwickshire, and there is a chance that he might play a few more games. A contract is in the process of being chalked out, and an official statement would be released once the agreement is completely finalised.
“Vihari will be playing in the English county side for Warwickshire this season. He would play a few games. He is in England now. The contract is being chalked out. He will play a minimum of three games. We are trying to figure out if there is a chance to play a few more,” a senior BCCI official was quoted saying by Indian Express.
Vihari featured in three out of the four Test matches in Australia. He failed to produce any performance of note in the first two Test matches before he played a heroic knock in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Vihari scored 23 off 161 balls (he batted nearly four hours) helped India bat out the fifth day, and salvage a draw. And that was after he injured his hamstring early in his innings.
The hamstring injury ruled him out of the four-match Test series against England at home, but he returned to competitive cricket as he led Andhra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He made just 74 runs in six innings in the premier 50-over competition, and out of the 74 runs that he scored, 65 of those came in one knock.
He last played a game on 8th March, and there was no cricket lined up for him before this County deal. However, BCCI wants him to be match-ready and fit before the big season. As mentioned earlier, there is the WTC final and the Test series against England in England.
“With a curtailed domestic season this time and Vihari being a part of the Test side, he needs match practice. All his other Test colleagues are part of the IPL teams including Cheteshwar (Pujara). Even if it’s white-ball games, they will be fit and match-ready. However, we need to ensure that Vihari also gets game time before the England tour. It’s not just one World Test Championship final but it’s followed by a full-fledged five-Test series. We need him ready,” the BCCI official further explained.
Vihari has been around the Indian Test side and usually occupies the No. 6 slot. He has played 12 Test matches (11 of those away from home) and has scored 624 runs at an average of 32.84 (one hundred and four fifties).
