Hanuma Vihari suffers hamstring injury during the SCG Test match vs Australia, heads back to India

Hanuma Vihari, one of India's heroes from the third Test between India and Australia, on Friday headed back to Australia after helping his team pull off an iconic draw at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Monday. The right-hand batsman faced 161 balls for his unbeaten 23 in extreme pain and discomfort and forged a 62-run partnership off 259 balls with his partner Ravichandran Ashwin, who also remained unbeaten till the end.

Later, India Today learnt that Hanuma Vihari was on heavy doses of pain-killers on Day 5. The 27-year-old got the job done for India while in serious pain. After the completion of the match, Vihari was taken for scans and subsequently ruled out of the 4th and final Test in Brisbane.

BCCI, on Friday took to Twitter to share a picture of Hanuma Vihari from an airport and inform that the 'SCG hero' was heading back to



India. Attached to the picture was a caption in which BCCI hailed the Andhra Pradesh batsman and wished for his speedy recovery.

On Day 5 of the 3rd Test at Syndey, Ashwin (39 off 128) and Vihari produced one of the best displays in the 4th innings of a Test. The duo batted for 42.4 overs, with a target of 407 placed by Australia, after Rishabh Pant (97) and Cheteshwar Pujara (77) were dismissed leaving India at 272/5.

From thereon, the Ashwin-Vihari duo batted out the rest of the day, producing a resistance that's rarely seen in the sport. While a bruised and battered India turned their focus away from the win, the draw will be remembered as one of the best in Test cricket.

"Touring Australia is never easy so Vihari can be proud of himself. It was a knock equal to scoring a hundred," Ashwin had told after the completion of the match.