More than a month after he stepped down from captaincy, former skipper of Andhra Pradesh Hanuman Vihari revealed the real reason behind his decision. While vowing to “never play for Andhra Pradesh again,” Hanuman Vihari claimed that he quit captaincy of the team due to political pressure. Hanuman Vihari’s claim came after Madhya Pradesh defeated Andhra Pradesh by 4 runs in the quarterfinals of Ranji Trophy 2024.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Hanuman Vihari said that during his captaincy, he shouted at a player, who complained about it to his father. As the father of the player was a politician, he asked the Cricket Association to take action against Hanuman Vihari.
“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,” the player said.
“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,” Hanuman Vihari added.
While sharing his feelings on the incident, Hanuman Vihari alleged that the Cricket Association thinks that the players will listen to whatever they say. He said that he felt humiliated and embarrassed and vowed to never play in Andhra Pradesh again.
“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,” Hanuman Vihari said.
“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,” the former AP skipper added.
Hanuman Vihari switched to Andhra Pradesh in the previous season after having been associated with Hyderabad from the inception of his career. In his role as captain, he led Andhra Pradesh to the quarterfinals, where they encountered Madhya Pradesh at the same venue. In the course of the match, he encountered a forearm fracture while at the crease. Despite this setback, he demonstrated exceptional determination by resuming batting in a left-handed manner.
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Published: 26 Feb 2024, 04:52 PM IST