"I felt humiliated and embarrassed, but I’ve not expressed it out until today"- Hanuma Vihari quits Andhra Ranji team due to political interference

Team India batter Hanuma Vihari has decided to leave his state side Andhra after a row with the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA). The state's journey in Ranji Trophy 2024 ended in the quarterfinals after a narrow four-run loss against Madhya Pradesh.

Hanuma Vihari, who started the season as the side's captain but was later asked to step down, scored only 14 (27) in the first innings of the match but hit a fighting half-century in the second innings to keep his team in the hunt. His 55 (156) eventually ended up in a losing cause as Andhra fell four runs short in the chase.

The 30-year-old batter took to his official Instagram handle after the loss and reflected on the season by writing:

"We fought hard till the end but it wasn’t meant to be. Gutted to lose an another quarters with Andhra."

Hanuma Vihari then went on to reveal the main reason behind the social media post, disclosing the reason behind his decision to quit the Andhra team. Opening up about an incident with a substitute player, who was also the son of a local politician, Vihari added:

"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."

Expressing his disappointment over the way the ACA handled the incident, Hanuma Vihari added:

"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 I’ve not expressed it out until today."

He concluded:

"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."

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A look at Hanuma Vihari's numbers for India in international cricket

After debuting for India in 2018, Hanuman Vihari has played 16 Tests so far, scoring 839 runs at an average of 33.56, including one century and five half-centuries.

He has been out of favor recently, last playing in a Test match against England in Birmingham in 2022.