Andhra Cricket Association orders inquiry against Hanuma Vihari after cricketer alleges political involvement

Andhra Cricket Association has ordered an inquiry against former captain Hanuma Vihari after the India cricketer accused ACA of forcing him to quit the leadership role after he shouted at a player who is a politician’s son. Vihari, who said he will “never play” for the team, made the allegations on Monday after Andhra’s Ranji Trophy campaign ended with a defeat to Madhya Pradesh.

ACA in a media release said that they have received multiple complaints from Vihari’s teammates, Andhra support staff and ACA administrators about India cricketer’s use of foul language.

“Complaints were received from teammates, support staff and ACA administrators about Vihari’s use of foul language and abusive behaviour. ACA will conduct a thorough inquiry into all complaints and the due course of action will be communicated,” ACA said.

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On Vihari’s allegation of political involvement in team’s decision-making, ACA stated that, “It has come to our attention that Mr Vihari personally verbally abuse a specific player during the Bengal Ranji game in front of everyone. The affected player filed an official compliant with the ACA."

Vihari, who has featured in 16 Tests for India, started the season as Andhra captain but stepped down after the first game against Bengal. Back then it was reported that he had quit captaincy due to “personal reasons”.

Ricky Bhui captain Andhra in the remaining matches.

ACA explained the captaincy change in their statement.

“In January 2024, following the first Ranji Trophy game, an email from the Chairman of the Senior Selection Committee proposed a new captain due to Vihari’s status as an Indian prospect affecting his season-long availability. Vihari, in response, expressed appreciation for the decision, leading to Ricky Bhui being announced as the new captain by the senior selection committee.”

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Vihari also shared ACA’s full statement on X (formerly Twitter).

Keep trying!! 👏🏻👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Wggq0cFisU

— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) February 26, 2024

In another post he alleged conspiracy against him by ACA.

🤣 pic.twitter.com/yzyrhVDLi6

— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) February 26, 2024

In his statement, Vihari had stated that action was taken against him by ACA due to political interference.

“I was captain in the first game against Bengal, and during the game, I shouted at 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 tweeted. “Although we chased 410 against last year’s finalists Bengal (for a first-innings lead), I was asked to resign from captaincy without any fault of mine.”

Andhra player KN Prudhvi Raj later took to Instagram to reveal that Vihari was talking about him and accused the senior cricketer of abuse.

“Hello everyone! I’m that guy, you guys are searching in the comment box, whatever you guys heard is absolutely false, no one is higher than the game and my self-respect is much bigger than anything.

“Personal attacks and vulgar language are unacceptable in any kind of human platform. Everyone in the team knows what happened that day…Mr so called champion. Play this sympathy game however you want,” he posted.