Hanuma Vihari deserves consistent run with India's Test team

Test cricket is one of the most important formats of the game even today as it is the base on which all other formats are based. The history of cricket begins with this format and purists who love the sport still hail it as the best. In Indian cricket, many stalwarts of the game have done exceptionally well and left behind a great legacy that the country can be proud of. Even modern-day greats like Virat Kohli have also talked about the importance of Test cricket. 

But, one such player who the team management showed faith in and got him in the team alongside the trio was Hanuma Vihari. The right-handed batter has scored 7,837 runs in 101 first-class matches and averages a staggering 55.58. This is the body of work that Vihari has behind him that helped him get into the Indian team. He made his debut for the national side against hosts England back in 2018 and scored an important fifty on his debut under challenging conditions. This was proof that the young batter had it in him to make it big at the highest level.

Since making his debut back in 2018, the batter played 15 Test matches which is quite surprising given the fact that he averages 35.13 so far with 808 runs. Hanuma Vihari has been overlooked several times when the Indian team plays a Test series on home soil. The only time he got to play Test matches in India was when Sri Lanka toured India earlier this year and the team management had dropped Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane from the squad. 

Following this, Cheteshwar Pujara went to play county cricket and batted masterfully in the month of May which is considered to be one of the most challenging months for batters because of the conditions. The selectors took note of his performances in England and decided to bring him back for the series against England. This makes things dicey for Hanuma Vihari once again as like always the batter is once again competing for a spot in the playing XI and Shreyas Iyer might be the batter who is preferred over him. After Vihari's heroics in Australia, he only got to play a Test match almost a year later when the team went to South Africa. Even though, Pujara and Rahane were not at their best with the bat. So that's the kind of challenge that Vihari has to face. 

This brings me back to the question of why Hanuma Vihari is constantly overlooked and given chances in a very inconsistent manner even though he has time and again proved what an asset he is to the team. The selectors and the team management should have the clarity to Hanuma Vihari and should be given a consistent run in the side without him having to worry about his spot within the team. 

In my opinion, Hanuma Vihari should be given a consistent run with the team irrespective of the fact which team is India playing against and where. He has done well and cannot be overlooked in this format of the game especially when he has rarely not performed whenever given the opportunity.