The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has issued a show-cause notice to Hanuma Vihari a month after the right-handed batter accused the board of removing him as captain. The right-handed batter had alleged that he was "asked to resign from captaincy" after he shouted at a 17th player during Andhra's Ranji Trophy fixture against Bengal in the recently culminated season.
Notably, Vihari led Andhra in the first game of the season against Bengal and helped the team draw the game and take points out of it based on a superior first innings total. However, Vihari was replaced by Ricky Bhui in Andhra's next game and the latter continued to lead the team till their loss at the hands of Madhya Pradesh in the quarters.
An ACA official confirmed that the board has issued a show-cause notice to Vihari and expect him "to come out with his grievances".
"Yes, we have served him a show-cause notice and we are awaiting his reply," an ACA official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
"This is just to find what made him react the way he did last month. He has not reached out to us, so this is a chance for him to come out with his grievances.
"After all, we value Vihari and his contributions to the growth of state cricket as he has played a big part in Andhra going up in the ranks in domestic cricket," he added.
"We fought hard till the end but it wasn’t meant to be. Gutted to lose an other quarter 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 at the 17th player and he complained to his dad (who is a politician), his dad in return asked the Association to take action against me," Vihari's post on Instagram read.
"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 knockouts 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 out until 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."
