Former Andhra captain and senior Indian red-ball batter Hanuma Vihari in a long post on Instagram on Monday, February 26 has spoken in detail on why he left the captaincy only after the first game of Ranji Trophy 2024. Hitting out at the Andhra Cricket Association, Vihari announced that he will never play for his home state again. Vihari alleged that one of the players in the squad, who he had an altercation with after the first match of the season is more important to the association, because he is the son of a politician.
Vihari elaborated on the whole incident after Andhra were knocked out of the Ranji Trophy 2024 edition following a narrow 4-run loss to Madhya Pradesh in Indore. In a detailed statement, Vihari revealed that he was asked to step down as captain after he shouted at a player despite his side making 445 runs against Bengal in response to their score of 410 in the first innings.
"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," Vihari said in a post on Instagram. "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."
Vihari then said that the association deemed itself bigger than the players and his treatment was heavy-handed and couldn't stay with the team where he didn't have his self-respect and played the whole season because he respects the game and his fellow players in the side.
"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," Vihari further added.
"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 concluded.
Moments after Vihari's post, the said player Prudhvi Raj apparently in response to the ex-Andhra captain's outburst came up with a sly dig on his Instagram story. "Hello everyone, I am that guy you guys are searching in that comment box. Whatever you guys have heard is absolutely false. No one is higher than the game and my self respect is much more bigger than anything. Personal attack and vulgar language is unacceptable in any kind of human platform. Everyone in team knows what has happened in that day," Prudhvi Raj wrote on Instagram story that has gone viral and Andhra Cricket Association has a lot on its plate to deal with.
There were reports of Vihari making a move to Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket last year as well and now it seems almost confirmed with the 30-year-old announcing his departure from Andhra. MP have now moved to the semis after Andhra failed to chase a target of 170 runs and fell agonisingly short.
