Visakhapatnam: In a dramatic turn of events, Hanuma Vihari, the seasoned middle-order batter with 16 Tests under his belt, has declared his intention never to represent Andhra again. Expressing a profound sense of humiliation, Vihari cited the Andhra Cricket Association’s (ACA) decision to oust him as captain following the team’s triumphant season opener against Bengal in Visakhapatnam last month.
The controversy ensued from an incident involving Vihari and a young player, the 17th member of the squad. In a moment of frustration, Vihari directed his ire towards the player, triggering a complaint from the player’s father, a prominent politician. Subsequently, the ACA sought Vihari’s resignation.
Vihari, confirming the reprimand, refrained from disclosing the player’s name but revealed that the player was selected in the 15 for the subsequent match against Mumbai.
Taking to his official social media account, Vihari elaborated on the incident, stating, “Despite our successful chase of 410 against last year’s finalists (Bengal), I was asked to resign from the captaincy without any fault of mine (sic).”
“I never made any personal remarks to the player. However, the association deemed the player’s importance greater than mine, despite my contributions to Andhra’s cricketing success over the years, including representing India in 16 Tests (sic),” he continued.
Expressing his disappointment, Vihari explained that he continued playing the season out of respect for the game and his team. However, he noted that the association’s insistence on unquestioning adherence to directives led him to feel humiliated, prompting the decision never to represent Andhra again.
The ACA selectors appointed Ricky Bhui as the new skipper, under whose leadership Andhra faced a narrow defeat to Madhya Pradesh in the quarterfinals on Monday, missing out by four runs.
Vihari, who played 37 games for Andhra and captained in all matches before this season, is among the top 10 Andhra batters with over 2000 runs (2733). His roots in Hyderabad have led to perceptions of him as an outsider in some quarters of Andhra cricket. Vihari mentioned that he will decide on his future team later, emphasizing, “There is a lot of time left for this call,” as he signed off.
The ACA, through a press release, has confirmed of rifts in the team and getting complaints about Vihari’s use of alleged foul languages. The ACA also has brought several allegations against the India discard of creating factionalism in the team and frequently seeking NOCs to shift to other states.
“ACA will conduct a through inquiry into all the complaints and the due course of action will be communicated in the near future,” stated the official statement.
