WI vs IND | Coach Ravi Shastri's advice to flex my knees while batting helped me, says Hanuma Vihari
Hanuma Vihari fared brilliantly in the second Test in Jamaica and has credited his success to head coach Ravi Shastri, who adviced the batsman to not to stay upright while batting and instead suggested him to flex the knee. The 25-year-old admitted that the advice has helped improve his footwork.
After producing an unbeaten half-century and a 111 in the second Test, Vihari was adjudged the Man of the Match as India won by 257 runs over the hosts, on Monday.
Vihari later revealed that Shastri came up to him after his undefeated knock in the first innings and gave him advice that helped him better his game. "He (Shastri) was talking about flexing my knees a little bit, I was a little upright in the first innings, so flexing my knees meant I could move my foot both on front and back foot.
"It worked out very well and a lot of credit should go to him," Vihari told India fielding coach R Sridhar during an interview, according to the official BCCI website.
The 25-year-old emerged as India's top run-getter against the West Indies in the two-match Test series with 289 runs.
"I relish batting under pressure because that is the challenge you have to accept as a batsman and these situations brings the best out of me," said the Andhra batsman, who had scored a 93 in the first Test in North Sound.
"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."
Vihari revealed that he was confident ahead of the Caribbean Test series as he had spent enough time on those pitches during the last two months with the India A team.
"I was in really good space. I have been in Caribbean for last two months, I have been practicing and playing matches on this wicket," he said.
"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 said.