Hanuma Vihari explains how he changes his guard while batting in England

Hanuma Vihari has been in England for several weeks now. After wrapping up his county stint with Warwickshire, the gritty batsman is now preparing for the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand.

Vihari talked about his experience of playing in England, explaining to ESPNCricinfo how he changes his batting guard when playing in the country.

“In England, you have to get more in line and judge the off stump more because of the movement of the ball. I start on the middle stump and because I do the trigger [back and across], I end up between off and middle. At the same time, you have to remember that if it is a stump-line ball, you have to play straight,” Vihari explained.

Hanuma Vihari scored his first fifty in county for Warwickshire - 52 runs from 115 balls including 5 fours. Keep going, Vihari. Vital season coming up.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 25, 2021

Hanuma Vihari didn’t have the best of outings for Warwickshire this season. In six innings, he scored just 100 runs at an average of 16.66, going past fifty just once in the period.

Vihari opened up on how England is a tough place to bat in and admitted he found it difficult to get going during the early stages of his stint.

“The overhead conditions play a part as well because when it is sunny, it gets a bit easier to bat, but when it is overcast, the ball moves all day. That was the challenge I faced early on in this season of county cricket - because it was quite cold and the ball was doing a lot off the wicket,” Vihari mentioned.

The Dukes ball does something all day: Hanuma Vihari

🇮🇳 ✈️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Excitement is building up as #TeamIndia arrive in England 🙌 👌 pic.twitter.com/FIOA2hoNuJ

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 4, 2021

The role of the Dukes ball has been a recurring theme in the build-up to the World Test Championship Final. The ball has a tendency to swing, and combined with the English conditions, throws up some unique challenges for batsmen.

Hanuma Vihari admitted the Dukes ball has a propensity to catch batsmen off guard while remembering one of the innings from his recent county stint.

“The Dukes does something all day - off the wicket or in the air. There's always something for the bowlers and that is the key challenge. When I came to England in April, it was quite cold. Even if you believe you are set, you can still be surprised by the movement. Like when I got out in my 30s against Essex, where I thought the wicket was quite good to bat on, but the odd ball was doing something because of the hard seam on the Dukes,” Hanuma Vihari concluded.

Hanuma Vihari seems to be in a straight fight with Ravindra Jadeja for one of the berths in India’s WTC Final playing XI. His chances hinge on whether India decide to beef up their batting for the final or decide to go in with an all-rounder against New Zealand in Southampton.