"Nobody really contacted me and told me the reasons why I was dropped" - Hanuma Vihari disappointed with omission from India test team

Indian batter Hanuma Vihari has opened up on his snub from the Test squad in the last one year. The 29-year-old has played 16 Tests for India, but his last appearance came during the rescheduled fifth Test against England in July 2022.

Since then, the Andhra player hasn't been in the mix of the red-ball squad. Vihari was slotted in to bat at No.3 when veteran Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the team in the Sri Lanka Test series last year. However, that opportunity lasted for just five innings before he was axed from the Test squad ahead of the Bangladesh tour in December.

Reacting to his snub from the Indian Test side, Hanuma Vihari told The Indian Express:

"Definitely, there was disappointment. I didn’t find a reason why I was dropped and it was the only thing that was bothering me. Nobody really contacted me and told me the reasons why I was dropped."

He added:

"It took some time and I have gone through ups and downs and I’m not worried about it now. I’ve put aside my personal side of things and I don’t take too much stress about whether I’m in the Indian team or not. There are other matches to win and it is about winning the trophies."

Chetan Sharma, the former chairman of selectors, said that Hanuma Vihari is in the scheme of things while dropping from India tour of Bangladesh. As the Indian team goes into a transition phase, one of the selectors has contacted Vihari and indicated to him that he is still in their plans.

"It is a misconception that I only bat slowly" - Hanuma Vihari

Hanuma Vihari has amassed 8643 runs in First-Class cricket at an average of 33.56 and a strike rate of 48.54. He is often criticised for scoring slowly, something that was also against Pujara.

Vihari scored 43 runs off 42 balls for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final against North Zone. Responding to the notion of his sluggish approach in Test cricket, Vihari said:

"It is a misconception that I only bat slowly. Test cricket can be played in different ways and you can’t just stick to one way of playing. If you take the last match (semifinals) for instance, it was an opportunity to show different skill sets that a batsman requires to play all three formats."

He added:

"Test cricket allows you to show that. On Day 1 and 2 (Duleep Trophy semi-final), there was proper line and length bowling and you had to leave those deliveries because the conditions were challenging. But when the pitch eased out and when we were chasing, you could see shades of the 50-over and 20-over game coming into play because of time constraints."

Vihari is currently leading South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final against West Zone at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.