The ongoing dispute between Hanuma Vihari and the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) took a new twist as the state body announced an investigation against the veteran batsman. Vihari had previously accused the ACA of pressuring him to resign from captaincy at the beginning of the current season. Tensions escalated following Andhra’s defeat in the Ranji Trophy, prompting Vihari to declare his decision to never represent the side again, citing mistreatment by the state association.
ACA in a media release said: “Complaints were received from teammates, support staff and ACA administrators about Vihari’s use of foul language and abusive behaviour. ACA will conduct a thorough inquiry into all complaints and the due course of action will be communicated.”
“It has come to our attention that Mr Vihari personally verbally abuse a specific player during the Bengal Ranji game in front of everyone. The affected player filed an official compliant with the ACA,”
Vihari also criticized a reserve teammate, allegedly the son of a politician, who he claimed had urged his father to take action against him after Vihari reprimanded him during a match. ACA disclosed receiving a complaint from the junior player regarding Vihari’s behavior at the time. Vihari circulated a statement, endorsed by other Andhra team members on social media, implying that the team was aware of the incident, with his only commentary being “the whole team knows (what had happened on that day).”
Vihari posted on Instagram with caption: “I love the team. I love the way we’re growing every season but the association doesn’t want us to grow.”
Expressing his disillusionment, Vihari remarked on the association’s belief that players must comply with their directives and implied that players owe their positions to the association, leading him to conclude that he had lost his self-respect playing for Andhra.
Initially, Vihari relinquished the captaincy after the first match against Bengal, citing personal reasons, with Ricky Bhui assuming leadership duties for the remainder of the season. However, Vihari has now revealed that the association had pressured him into stepping down from the role.
Vihari further said: “I was the captain in the first game against Bengal, during that game I shouted at 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.”
“I was asked to resign from captaincy without any fault of mine. I never said anything on a personal note to the player.”
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