Hanuma Vihari's hard work pays rich reward

Sanath Kumar, at one point Vihari's head coach at Andhra, has also worked with the right-hander during his time with India A, where Kumar is bowling coach. He explained some of the work Vihari has been doing.

"In the 2017-18 red-ball season, he worked a lot on his bat-swing, playing straight and close to the body, in tough conditions," Kumar told ESPNcricinfo.

"His discipline to leave and eliminate those extravagant drives got him the runs. If you purely go by the numbers, many others may have outscored him, but in terms of quality, he was right up there.

"He is very strong square of the wicket on both sides, and that is a direct sign of good back-foot play. His picking of lengths is a great strength; it gives him more time to play his shots.

"In the shorter versions there was some reluctance to bat higher initially, but his strike-rates have improved tremendously without making a compromise on his methods."

Vihari merited his inclusion in India's Test squad after an excellent spell of form with the bat, having notched 148 to help India A beat South Africa A in his last match, and also topping his side's averages in the recent tri-series against opponents West Indies A and England Lions.

Vihari, an ICC U19 Cricket World Cup winner, averages just shy of 60 in his first class career, and has an extremely impressive record of 15 tons and 24 half-centuries in just 63 matches.

His Test bow might not come in this series - it is likely he been picked just as a precaution to provide cover in case anything exacerbates Virat Kohli's persisting back injury - but with his penchant for improvement, it surely won't be long until we see him represent his country.