Ranji Trophy: Hanuma Vihari blames political interference as reason behind leaving Andhra’s captaincy

India batter Hanuma Vihari has vowed to ‘never play for Andhra again’ after facing utter humiliation by the state association over the years. Taking tosocial mediaon Monday (Feb 26),the right-handed batsmansaid the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) forced him to give up his captaincy following the team’s opening game of the season against Bengal in January this year.

Although Vihari had cited personal reasons for leaving his state’s captaincy back then, he opened up on what happened behind the scenes that led to this. On the said post, Vihari wrote that he shouted at the 17th player in the squad (while he was the captain during that game), who complained to his father, a person with good political association.His father urged the association to take action against Vihari, which they eventually did by removing him from the captaincy.

Vihari added despite his team going past Bengal’s first-inning total, the ACA asked him to step aside from the captaincy post.

"I was captain in the first game against Bengal, and during the game, I shouted at the 17th player, and he complained to his dad (who is a politician)," Vihari wrote.

"His dad in return asked the association to take action against me. 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," he added.

Vihari further wrote that he didn’t say anything personal to the concerned player but the association preferred listening to him, taking action against the domestic giant who had guided Andhra to bag knockout spots on five occasions.

"I never said anything on a personal note to the player, but the association thought the player was more important than the guy who gave his body on the line last year and batted left-handed, took Andhra to the knockouts five times in the last seven years and played for India in 16 Tests,” he further wrote.

‘I felt embarrassed’

Vihari said he felt embarrassed over how the association treated him this season, and despite being asked to leave captaincy, he continued playing because he respected thesport and his team. However, Vihari admitted to feeling humiliated and embarrassed over the whole episode.

"I felt embarrassed, but the only reason I continued playing this season is because I respect the game and my team," he said.

"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 until today," he added.

Meanwhile, Andhra lost their latest match against Madhya Pradesh by four runs in the Ranji Trophy, ending their hopes of bagging their maiden Ranji semis spot. Vihari was their highest-scorer in the second innings, hitting 55 in the chase of 170.

The right-handed batter is also his team’s second-highest run-scorer this season, scoring 522 runs from 13 innings.

Meanwhile, Vihari last represented India in an away Test against England at Birmingham in June 2022.