Andhra Pradesh captain Hanuma Vihari once again came out to bat with a fracture on his left hand in the ongoing fourth Ranji Trophy quarterfinal between AP and Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.
Vihari fractured his forearm on Day 2 of the match after getting hit by a ball from pacer Avesh Khan. He was on 16 when he got hit in Andhra's first innings and left the field for scans which revealed there was a fracture.
But he still came out to bat after Andhra lost 9 wickets and scored another 11 runs before getting out for 27 as AP's innings folded for 379.
'Doctor advised me not to bat'
"My hand has a complete fracture. Itâs on the forearm. The doctor had advised me not to bat and even our physio said I shouldnât. But when the wickets were falling, I got an idea, âwhy not bat left-handed with a single hand?â
"You never know. Even if I faced 10-15 balls, even if itâs 10 runs extra, it would matter. Setting an example was my main intention. If I give up, then the team spirit will go down. But if I go out there in the middle, even if I donât get any runs, get out first ball also, thatâs not a problem. But me being there, setting an example was important for me,â Vihari told Sportstar.
'Do it for the team'
Vihari's courage and grit was lauded by the entire cricketing fraternity as he not only batted with one hand but also took a left-hander's stance due to the injury.
"Do it for the team. Do it for the bunch. Never give up!! Thank you everyone for your wishes. Means a lot!!" Vihari tweeted.
He was again seen batting left-handed and used just his right hand to grip the bat in Andhra's second innings on Day 3.
Vihari made 15 off 16 balls including three fours with just one hand and was the last batter to get out as AP managed 93 in their second innings to take a lead of 244 runs.
