India batsman Hanuma Vihari has received a lot of flak for the way he has played so far in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The batsman had scored 45 runs in three innings before the Sydney Test match and with the availability of Rohit Sharma for the third Test match against Australia there were talks of Vihari being dropped.

But eventually Mayank Agarwal was dropped and Vihari was given another lifeline. On Monday, he went on to repose faith in the decision of the Indian team management as he fought along with Ravichandran Ashwin to save the Sydney Test for India.

Former India batsman Deep Dasgupta called Vihari’s valiant 161-ball 23 run knock on Monday the best from the batsman and said that he hoped the team management and the fans will remember this innings for a long long time.

“I think one of the best that I have seen him (Hanuma Vihari) play to be honest and I really hope that people remember this knock from him, because it is not about a lot of runs from him.

“My point is that he may not be available for the next Test (due to hamstring injury), and he generally doesn’t play home series against England. He might not play the IPL, so the next cricket that he actually might play at this competitive level will be the next series against England away from home.

“I hope people remember this knock from Hanuma Vihari, I honestly pray that people remember because we tend to forget very quickly, and this is a, for the connoisseur, this is an innings to remember for a very very long time.

“What an effort from Hanuma after the hamstring injury, just to be there and hang in there for as long as he did. I am sure his movements were restricted. That is just mind over matter, we keep talking about it and that was a fanstastic example of that,” Deep Dasgupta said on Sports Today.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari, despite getting injured in the game, batted out an entire session and played 289 deliveries between the two of them to draw the third test match in Sydney.