NEWS
Follow UsFollowing Andhra’s heart-breaking four-run defeat against Madhya Pradesh in the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, veteran batter Hanuma Vihari has vowed never to play for his state again. The 30-year-old put out a post on his social media, lashing out at the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA).
Andhra started the season with Vihari at the helm and took a first-innings lead against Bengal. However, Vihari relinquished his leadership duties after the first game and the captaincy was handed over to Ricky Bhui, who in an interview with Cricket.com revealed that the decision was made because Vihari wanted to focus on his batting.
However, Vihari has now revealed that he was sacked from captaincy because he shouted at a player who is a politician's son.
This is what Vihari had to say (unedited version): “We fought hard till the end but it wasn't meant to be. Gutted to lose an another quarters with Andhra.
“This post is about some facts I want to put forward. I was the captain in the first game against Bengal, during that game I shouted on 17th player and he complained to his dad (who is a politician), his dad in return asked the Association to take action against me.
“Although, we chased 410 against last year's finalists Bengal I was asked to resign from captaincy without any fault of mine. I never said anything on a personal note to the player but the association thought that player was more important than the guy who gave his body on the line last year and batted left handed, took Andhra to knock outs 5 times in the last 7 years and played for India in 16 tests.
“I felt embarrassed but the only reason I continued playing this season because I respect the game and my team. Sad part is association thinks that players have to listen to whatever they say and players are there because of them. I felt humiliated and embarrassed but I've not expressed it outuntil today.
“I've decided that I'll never play for Andhra where i lost my self respect. I love the team. I love the way we're growing every season but association doesn't want us to grow.”
Vihari didn’t disclose the team member’s name, but wicketkeeper-batter KN Prudhviraj responded by saying: “I am that guy you are searching in that comment box. Whatever you guys heard is absolute false, no one is higher than the game and my self-respect is much bigger than anything. Personal attacks and vulgar language is unacceptable in any platform. Everyone in the team knows what has happened that day. Play this sympathy games, however you want.”
The whole team knows! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/l5dFkmjGN9
— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) February 26, 2024
Vihari, who hasn’t played for India for close to 20 months, wanted to move to Madhya Pradesh ahead of the 2023-24 season but was denied a NoC. As a result, he decided to lead Andhra for one more season, but it didn’t quite end well for the batter.
