‘I salute you’- Twitter reacts as Hanuma Vihari bats with a broken hand yet again in Ranji Trophy

Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari batted with a fractured wrist for the second time, hoping to save his team from a collapse in the Ranji Trophy 2023 quarter-finals. The Indian batter is best known for his gutsy knock against Australia in the Sydney Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the 2020/21 season.

Vihari had also batted with a single hand in the first innings and had scored two boundaries. The right-handed batter batted with his top hand and a left-handed grip, contributing to Andhra scoring 379 in the first innings of the match.

Vihari was met with a rousing reception for having the heart to come out and bat for the second time and scored 3 boundaries in his 15-run innings of 16 balls, before getting bowled out to Saransh Jain.

Andhra set Madhya Pradesh a target of 245 runs in the second innings and had not picked up a single wicket by the end of Day 3. Madhya Pradesh had scored 44 runs with no wickets lost and now requires 201 runs to win on the final day.

Vihari has not played for India since Shreyas Iyer emerged as an aggressive Test batter against spin bowling. Vihari has had a mediocre season as Ranji captain this year, but he will be remembered as a valiant fighter in Indian cricket folklore.

In the meantime, Twitter has been lauding the all-rounder for showing great guts in the all-important match. Many users also recalled how he batted in the Border Gavaskar Trophy played in Australia in 2020-21.

“I salute you Hanuma Vihari,” a user wrote. “If only cricket had a Puskas award. Vihari would have won it,” another user wrote. “A colleague just showed me Hanuma Vihari’s single-handed batting effort (the other arm in a cast, thanks to a fracture) vs MP in Ranji quarters. That took some doing boss. Amazing!” wrote a third

Here is how Twitter reacted to Hanuma Vihari