Minutes after Andhra Pradesh was defeated in a nail-biting finish by Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 quarterfinals on Monday, Hanuma Vihari took to social media. He wrote a long note mentioning that he never wanted to play for Andhra Pradesh again. (More Cricket News)
In his notes, Vihari mentioned a politician's son who used his father's powers to make him resign from the captaincy after their first match against the Bengal team this season. Andhra chased down the 410-run target to win that match.
Before the speculations about that politician's son would have started, Prudhvi Raj, another Andhra cricketer claimed to be that person via a social media post and stated that Vihari used foul language against him and is now misleading people by playing sympathy card.
Vihari, who has played 16 Test matches for India also showed a joint statement by the whole team with their signatures on it which shows that he was innocent and he had done nothing wrong.
As the drama unfolds, support for Vihari is coming from numerous accounts on social media. An X user (formerly Twitter) wrote, "if Vihari has decided to never play for Andhra again, its their loss. Vihari is a quality player and if he goes profession many teams will be in queue for him."
Another user wrote, "Absolute disgrace! Andhra Cricket Association... this is not how you treat your champion player."
Vihari resigned from the captaincy after the first match and Ricky Bhui was given the leadership duties. Bhui has made 902 runs in this season, which is second-most after Agni Chopra.
Hanuma Vihari and Andhra cricket association's rift is going to be an unforeseeable battle. Vihari has said his side of the story. The association is yet to comment on the issue, but according to the netizens, Vihari is a hero and he must be respected.
