India beat West Indies 2-0 in the Test series after handing heavy defeats to the hosts in both the matches.
Centurion Hanuma Vihari was one of the key players responsible for the clean sweep.
He was adjudged Man of the Match in the final Test against the West Indies for his match-winning ton under pressure. Vihari emerged as the leading run-getter of the series, scoring 32, 93, 111 and 53* in the four innings.
The 25-year-old Andhra batsman gave due credit to head coach Ravi Shastri for his success.
In an exclusive interview for bcci.tv with India fielding coach R Sridhar, he revealed that Shastri had helped him with a technical tip that did a world of good to his batting.
“He was talking about flexing my knees a little bit. I was little upright in the first innings and that I could try out flexing my knees a little bit so that I could move my feet both on the front foot and the back foot. It worked pretty well. You can see the score reflect itself. So a lot of credit should go to him.”
I relish playing in pressure situations – @Hanumavihari tells @coach_rsridhar
India’s fielding coach has known Vihari for a decade and a half. A heartfelt conversation between the two post India’s 2-0 series win – by @28anand
Full interview 📹📹https://t.co/Wau7sV2GXk #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/ejFx6rBBSz
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 3, 2019
Vihari also said that he enjoyed batting under pressure, and challenging circumstances brought the best out of him.
“I relish batting under pressure because that’s a challenge that you have to accept as a batsman. Those are situations that bring the best out of me as a player. I try to focus on what the situation is and have a certain game plan for it.”
The right-hander praised Ajinkya Rahane’s batting and mentioned that he was lucky to have steady partnerships with the Maharashtra lad.
“I feel I try to focus on what the situation is, and have a certain game plan and I was fortunate enough to have good partnerships with Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane). He batted beautifully as well.”
At the end of the series, Vihari was a happy man as all his hard work and practice had paid off.
“I was in a really good space. I have been in the Caribbean for the last two months, I have been practising and playing matches on this wicket.”
“So I was really confident and I think I played well in the practice match and it gave me that extra boost. I was looking forward to this series and I am happy it went well,” he added.
The promising batsman got a maiden Test hundred, something that he can be proud of, as it came pretty quick – in only his sixth Test match.
