'Want Him To Lead Our Side,' Andhra Players Back Hanuma Vihari, Want Him to Stay

Following Hanuma Vihari's social media post, Andhra players write to ACA and urged them to make him stay.

Hanuma Vihari has received the backing from his Andhra teammates.

Image: PTI 

Andhra batter Hanuma Vihari on Monday made shocking revelations about being forced to leave Andra's Ranji Trophy captaincy, after just one match of the ongoing season.

The former skipper took to social media to reveal that he was made to step down from the captaincy post after he shouted at the 17th player in the team, who was a politician's son. In his post, he has vowed to never play for Andhra in domestic cricket again.

Following this, Vihari's teammates penned a letter to the state association, urging them to make him stay. All Andhra players, including Ricky Bhui, who assumed captaincy after Vihari stepped down, signed the letter.

“This 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,” the letter read.

“Unfortunately one of the team members 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 brought the 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 to 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,” it added.

What Did KN Prudhviraj Say?

Meanwhile, in response to Vihari's revelation, the 17th player in question, wicketkeeper-batter KN Prudhviraj, who is yet to play a first-class match took to Instagram to share his reaction.

Prudhviraj has made claims that Vihari used “vulgar language” against him. However, the players refuted Prudhviraj's claims in their letter to the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA).

"Hello everyone, I am that guy you are searching in that comment box. Whatever you guys heard is absolute false, no one is higher than the game and my self-respect is much bigger than anything,” he wrote on his Instagram story.

"Personal attacks and vulgar language is unacceptable in any platform. Everyone in the team knows what has happened that day. This is the most you can do. Play this sympathy games, however you want," he added.

KN Prudhviraj's Instagram story.

Image: Screengrab

What Did Vihari Write In His Post?

Vihari's revelations come following the end of the team's Ranji Trophy campaign this season where they were defeated by 5 runs in the quarter-finals by Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Monday.

"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 I'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," wrote Vihari in his detailed post.

Vihari began his domestic cricket career with Hyderabad in 2010 and played for the side until the 2015/16 season. He later returned to play for Hyderabad in the 2021/22 season, before moving back to Andhra for the next season.