Hanuma Vihari opens up about being sacked as captain of Andhra for shouting at a politician’s son

Hanuma Vihari has opened up on getting sacked as the skipper of Andhra during the Ranji Trophy 2024. The star cricketer led Andhra in their first match of the Ranji Trophy 2024 where they chased a daunting total of 410. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, he was removed as the captain of the team. Ricky Bhui assumed the role of the new skipper.

Andhra lost to Madhya Pradesh in the quarterfinal of the tournament. After the match, Hanuma took to Instagram and revealed the reason behind getting sacked. The star batter claimed that he made no mistake to get dropped and added that it was all because of the intervention of a politician. KN Prudhviraj, a player in Andhra’s squad, is the son of the local politician.

During the match against MP, Vihari scolded Prudhviraj. The latter complained to his father about the same and got Vihari sacked. The star batter claimed that he did not say anything to Prudhviraj on a personal level. Vihari expressed his pain that despite giving everything to his team, putting the body over the line and helping Andhra to enter the playoffs of the Ranji Trophy five out of seven times, he had to suffer.

I’ll never play for Andhra where I lost my self-respect – Hanuma Vihari

Hanuma claimed that he was embarrassed by the decision of the association, not because he was sacked but because he became a scapegoat for the ego of the politician’s son. Hanuma said that he continued playing for Andhra in the Ranji Trophy 2024 only because of the love and respect he has for the game. Vihari concluded by saying that he would never play for Andhra again in the Ranji Trophy.

“Sad part is the association thinks that players have to listen to whatever they say and players are there because of them. 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,” said Vihari. In the past, Andhra had denied giving Vihari the NOC to make a move to Madhya Pradesh.