India Test star joins new team ahead of Asia Cup 2025: "Good enough to play all 3 formats"
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Star batter Hanuma Vihari, who has represented India in the red-ball format, has joined the Tripura State team ahead of the upcoming domestic season, which will be initiated with the Duleep Trophy to be held before the Asia Cup 2025.
Hanuma Vihari, the Indian middle-order batter, has played in the Test side for 16 games between 2018 and 2022, which includes the famous England tour as well as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy win against Australia. In 16 matches, he scored 839 runs, with an average of 33.56 and a century to his name.
Despite a not-so-glorious-looking career, his short stint with the Indian team included several crunch moments where he saved the match for India, though he could not lead them to wins on all occasions. The move comes just at the brink of India's new domestic season before the onset of the Asia Cup 2025.
Hanuma Vihari hopes for "all-format participation" in the move to Tripura
Ahead of the upcoming domestic season in India, which will begin with the Duleep Trophy before the Asia Cup 2025 starts, Hanuma Vihari has decided to make a move from Andhra to the Tripura side.
This decision has been made by the Indian player, as he feels the Andhra Pradesh team eyes younger players in the T20 format; however, he looks forward to starring in all three formats of the game.
"I was keen on other opportunities since I believe I'm good enough to play all three formats," Vihari said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"Andhra made it clear they were looking at youngsters for the T20 format. That was why I decided it didn't make sense to play even the 50-over format, so I sat out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. I also wanted to play in a new environment," he added.
"I'm captain or not, I'll contribute whatever the team expects of me"
Even ahead of the 2024-25 season, Vihari was supposed to make a move to the Madhya Pradesh team but was talked out of it by Nara Lokesh, the general secretary of Andhra ruling party, TDP.
"For the last two seasons, I'd been talking of going out [he'd been in talks with Madhya Pradesh], but I stayed back," Vihari said of the previous season.
"I felt given the circumstances around me, and also where my own cricket is at, this was the best time to sign with an upcoming team. This year they approached me first, and I felt it'll be a challenge worth taking up."
He further stressed on the fact that he is likely to be a key member in the Tripura squad and "As a senior player, I'll contribute whatever the team expects of me, from a leadership standpoint, whether I'm captain or not."
Hanuma Vihari is not eyeing any comeback post Asia Cup 2025
Just before the Asia Cup 2025, such a move from Hanuma might be seen as him looking for an opportunity to channel his way back into the Indian team; however, he has made it clear that he has no such intention as of now.
Karun Nair also earned his comeback in the Test series before the Asia Cup 2025, but auditioned for years through his domestic performances.
"My challenge is to take the team through. After 14-15 years of first-class cricket, I've certainly got that experience that I want to pass on. But I'm not thinking of a comeback just yet. It's too far away. I want to score runs, important runs and then take the team through. More than anything, I just want to enjoy my cricket and score lots of runs," he concluded.
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Tagged:
India National Cricket Team Asia Cup Hanuma Vihari Tripura Cricket Association Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association (ACA)
