There were a couple of big decisions that the national selection committee took as it announced India's squad for the final two Tests against England on Wednesday. Youngsters Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari replaced the experienced Murali Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav.
While many expected Prithvi to make the cut, the surprise was Hanuma's maiden call-up. The 24-year-old becomes the first Andhra Pradesh cricketer in 19 years to earn a Test berth. Incidentally, the last player from Andhra to play a Test for India was chief national selector MSK Prasad.
That, however, cannot be considered as the reason for Hanuma's selection. The fact is that the right-hander has been a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket. His average of 59.45 is the highest in first class cricket across the world. Yes, it's more than what the likes of Steve Smith and Virat Kohli have to their credit.
Hanuma scored 752 runs at an average of 94.00 in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy season. His finest knock, apart from a maiden triple-century in a league match against Odisha, came against Ranji champs Vidarbha in the Irani Cup. Hanuma scored a brilliant 183 from 327 balls against the likes of Umesh Yadav and Rajneesh Gurbani.
Recently, Hanuma struck a match-winning 148 for India A against South Africa A in Bengaluru. This was his second century, apart from two half-centuries, in his last five first class innings. Earlier this year, Hanuma was one of four players to be picked for both the 50-overs and four-day squads for India A's tour of England. He managed to get a 147 against West Indies A in the one-day tri-series on that tour, and finished with 253 runs in three innings.
Hanuma, who possesses a solid technique and thrives playing square of the wicket, was a part of the World Cup-winning India Under-19 squad in 2012. The only blemish in his resume is the fact that he hasn't featured in the Indian Premier League since 2015.
However, what works in Hanuma's advantage, especially considering the England Test series, is the fact that he has spent quality time playing in the UK. The middle-order batsman has spent two full season (2014 and 2015) with Hutton CC in the Shephered Neame Essex First Division League. During that time, the talented youngster impressed all by scoring six centuries.
