Watch: Australia batsmen repeatedly unleashed sweeps against the Indian spinners in the first innings of the ongoing Sydney Test, and Hanuma Vihari, at short leg, was in the firing line, copping two blows in one over.

With India sticking to their spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja just before the second new ball, Australian batsmen looked to capitalise with the sweep shot.

Matthew Wade, in particular, was keen on repeatedly sweeping Jadeja, who was spinning the ball back into the left-hander. In the 75th over, one of Jadeja’s good length deliveries was met with a crunching sweep by Wade. Vihari, at short leg, jumped and turned around for cover, but the ball struck him near the knee cap, bringing the team physio onto the field.

Watch the moment here:


Vihari continued after receiving treatment from the physio and Wade promptly did a fist bump with the man at short leg.


Two balls after the incident, Wade was back with another full-fledged sweep, but once again Vihari got in the way. This time, the ball hit his thigh and then elbow.

With Ashwin continuing at the other end to Steve Smith, Vihari was once again in the firing line. A sweep from Smith went through Vihari’s legs in the next over. He wasn’t done being hit, though. In Jadeja’s next over, another Wade sweep hit Vihari on his shin before rolling away.


The Indian fielder stopped three certain boundaries by copping body blows off powerful sweep shots. A frustrated Wade soon ditched the sweep and decided to use his feet against Jadeja, only to sky a catch to mid-on soon after.

Related tags:

Australia v IndiaMatthew WadeSeries EditorialHanuma Vihari