Uproar in Andhra Cricket; Ranji captain Hanuma Vihari won’t play for team again citing self-respect

BENGALURU: Disgusted over politics creeping into cricket owing to bloated egos, skipper Hanuma Vihari, of the Andhra Ranji team, vowed never to play for the team again. He expressed his anger on the 17th player KN Prudhviraj (Prithviraj) during the Andhra vs Bengal match.Hanuma Vihari's reaction triggered his removal from the captaincy as KN Prithviraj's father is a politician.

Hanuma Vihari posted on Instagram saying that he would will no longer play for the Andhra team. KN Prudhviraj also posted a story saying "Em Peekalevu" (you can’t do anything) who countered the Hanuma Vihari post. Vihari posted on Instagram handle, whose pictures were shared by him even on “X”:

“Ranji trophy 2023/24. We fought hard till the end but it wasn't meant to be. Gutted to lose an another quarters 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 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.

“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 knock outs 5 times in the last 7 years and played for India in 16 tests.

“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 l've not expressed it out until today.

“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.”

Prudhvi Raj's

In response to Vihari’s post, K N Prudhvi Raj also took to Insta and posted a reel saying: “Hello everyone iam that guy, you guys are searching in that comment box, what ever you guys heard is absolute false, no one is higher then game and my self respect is much more bigger then anything, personal attacks and vulger language is unacceptable in any kind of human platform Everyone in team knows what has happened in that day, Nuvu inthaku minchi emmi pikkulevu mr so called champion. Play this sympathy games, however u want.”

Team-mates response

The team mates of Andhra Ranji team wrote to the ACA president saying: “is about the ongoing issue about HANUMA VIHARI. A complaint has been issued by a fellow teammate in the Ranji squad that vihari has used foul language and has approached him aggressively, but the truth is he has not approached him aggressively and this sort of language has been a very common thing in our team atmosphere and it is always in getting the best out of the team, and it has been used since long ages in team dressing rooms. Unfortunately one of the team member took it personally. We all the team players including the support staff have been witness to it, and we want vihari to continue as our captain. Since we have no issues with him and he always bought best out of us and as you can see the team has done very well and united in his leadership and also qualified more than 7 times under his leadership. Sir this Ranji season means a lot us as players and we have prepared so well and also started the tournament with a win against Bengal. As Andhra Ranji team players we want vihari to lead our side.”

-- Editor's Note: The posts by both players were reproduced as they were. NewsTAP did not correct the grammar.