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INDIAN DOMESTIC CRICKET
Vihari has played 16 Tests for India. © Getty
Veteran batsman and former Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari issued an emotional statement detailing his dispute with the Andhra Cricket Association and said he will “never play for Andhra”.
The post that was published on his social media channel follows Andhra’s exit in the quarter-finals of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy and Vihari details an incident that left him bitter.
Vihari says he was asked to resign from the captaincy after Andhra’s first match of the season after he shouted at a player who was the son of a politician.
The unedited post is as follows:
“We fought hard until the end but it wasn’t like that. Gutted to lose another quarter to Andhra.
This post is about some facts that I want to present. I was the captain in the first match against Bengal, during that match I shouted at player number 17 and he complained to his father (who is a politician), his father in return asked the Association to take action against me. Even though we chased 410 against last year’s runners-up Bengal, I was asked to resign from the captaincy through no fault of my own. I never said anything personal 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, led Andhra to knock out 5 times in the last 7 years and Played for India in 16 Tests.
I felt embarrassed, but the only reason I kept playing this season is because I respect the game and my team.
The sad thing is that the association thinks that the players have to listen to everything they say and that the players are there because of them. I felt humiliated and ashamed but I haven’t expressed it.until today.
I have decided that I will never play for Andhra, where I lost self-respect.
I love the team.
I love the way we grow each season, but the association doesn’t want us to grow.
Vihari has played 37 First Class matches for Andhra. He had earlier returned to Andhra after playing a season with Hyderabad. In the last season, the team was led by Ricky Bhui after Vihari resigned.
© Cricbuzz