Andhra batter Hanuma Vihari has lashed out at the state association after his side’s harrowing Ranji Trophy quarterfinal defeat to Madhya Pradesh in Indore on Monday.
Vihari, who started the season as Andhra’s captain against Bengal, relinquished his leadership duties after the opening league game in the tournament. The captaincy reins were handed over to Ricky Bhui with Vihari continuing in his primary role as a top-order batter.
Following the exit from the campaign, Vihari opened up and criticised the Andhra State Cricket Association for deliberately removing him from captaincy after an incident with a squad member. Vihari also expressed his decision to leave Andhra team immediately.
‘I was the captain in the first game against Bengal, during that game I shouted on 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. Although, we chased 410 against last year’s finalists Bengal I was asked to resign from captaincy without any fault of mine,’ Vihari wrote on Instagram shortly after the defeat.
While Vihari had not disclosed the team member’s name, wicket-keeper batter KN Prudhviraj took to social media in response.
The 30-year-old had led Andhra to the quarterfinals last season as well where they fell to Madhya Pradesh at the same venue. Battling a forearm fracture caused while batting in the match, the right-handed Vihari later walked out to bat left-handed but could not prevent a defeat.