Hanuma Vihari has decided to quit his state side Andhra Pradesh due to internal politics.
Hanuma Vihari, the India batter who is running out of the national team due to poor form, is going through a tough time in his Ranji side. Recently his side, Andhra Pradesh crashed out of the Ranji Trophy after losing the quarter-finals to Madhya Pradesh by four runs.
Vihari, a seasoned Andhra player, left the captaincy after Andhra’s first Ranji game of the season against last year’s finalists Bengal. The decision came as a surprise with Vihari leaving the captaincy midway as the team had performed well in the match. Ricky Bhui took over the reigns of the side from there on and led the team till their recent quarter-final fixture.
After the loss in the quarter-final fixture, Hanuma Vihari revealed the reason behind leaving the captaincy. “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,” Vihari wrote on his social media post.
Vihari stated that he never said anything on a personal note but the association thought that the player was more important than him. Ultimately, he was asked to resign from captaincy.
The whole team knows! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/l5dFkmjGN9
— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) February 26, 2024
After his revelation, Vihari posted a letter on social media in which he captioned, “The whole team knows.” The letter was signed by his teammates who came out in support of him.
In a letter to the President of Andhra Cricket Association, the players defended Vihari saying that he did not say anything in an aggressive manner and such kind of language was a very common thing in the team atmosphere.
The players also stated that they did not have any problem with Hanuma Vihari and that he always brought the best out of them. As a result, they wanted Vihari to continue as Andhra captain.
The 30-year-old middle order batter has already made it clear that he will never play for Andhra Pradesh again. Thus, we might see him playing for a different state from the next season. Due to poor run of form, Hanuma Vihari was dropped from the Indian team in 2022. He played a vital role in India 2020-21 Test series victory in Australia.
