 "Hanuma Vihari alleges he was forced to quit Andhra captaincy for shouting at a politician's son: 'I’ll Never Play for Andhra'")
India batter and former Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari has revealed that he was forced to step down as the captain of his state side because he shouted at player who happens to be a politician’s son. Vihari quit Andhra’s captaincy last month midway through the Ranji Trophy and it was reported back then that he decided to step down due to “personal reasons”.
Following Andhra’s exit from Ranji Trophy after quarter-finals defeat to Madhya Pradesh, Vihari on Monday put an end to all the speculations with an emotional statement on social media, revealing how he was forced to resign from captaincy by Andhra Cricket Association.
According to Vihari, he had to quit captaincy because in Andhra’s first match of the season he shouted at a player who was a politician’s son.
“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,” he wrote on Instagram.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsVihari added that he had not said anything personal to the player and slammed ACA for the treatment meted out to him.
“I never said anything on a personal note to the player, but the association thought the player was more important than the guy who gave his body on the line last year and batted left-handed, took Andhra to the knockouts five times in the last seven years and played for India in 16 Tests,” he further wrote.
“I felt embarrassed, but the only reason I continued playing this season is 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 until today.”
Vihari concluded by saying that he will not play for Andhra anymore.
“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 gets team members support
In a separate post on X (formerly Twitter), Vihari also shared a letter to the President, Secretary and the CEO of ACA which has been signed by his teammates, requesting the association to continue with Vihari as captain as he had done nothing wrong.
“This is about the ongoing issue about HANUMA VIHARI. A complaint has been issued by a fellow teammate in the Ranji squad that Vihari has used foul language and has approached him aggressively, but the truth is he has not approached him aggressively and this sort of language has been a very common thing in our team atmosphere and it is always in getting the best out of the team, and it has been used since long ages in team dressing rooms,” the letter read.
The whole team knows! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/l5dFkmjGN9
— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) February 26, 2024
“Unfortunately one of the team members took it personally. We all the team players including the support staff have been witness to it, and we want Vihari to continue as our captain. Since we have no issues with him and he always brought the best out of us and as you can see the team has done very well and united in his leadership and also qualified more than 7 times under his leadership. Sir this Ranji season means a lot to us as players and we have prepared so well and also started the tournament with a win against Bengal. As Andhra Ranji team players we want Vihari to lead our side.”
Prudhviraj shares his side of story
In response to Vihari’s original post on Instagram, KN Prudhviraj, Andhra wicketkeeper-batter who is yet to play a First-Class match for the state team, took to Instagram to share that he was the player Vihari was talking about.
“Personal attacks and vulgar language is unacceptable in any platform. Everyone in the team knows what has happened that day. This is the most you can do. Play this sympathy games, however you want,” Prudhviraj wrote on Instagram.
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