• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Sympathy Game Andhra Batter Replies To Hanuma Viharis Alleged Political Favoritism

'Sympathy Game' - Andhra Batter Replies To Hanuma Vihari's Alleged Political Favoritism

image-lt2ua8j0Hanuma Vihari got hit back by Andhra teammate (X.com)

A major controversy hit the Andhra Pradesh state cricket fraternity after Indian batter Hanuma Vihari alleged politically motivated vengeance for his removal from captaincy. Hours later, the player in question hit back at Vihari by calling him 'Mr. So-called champion."

After years of hard work in domestic cricket, Hanuma Vihari saw his dream of playing Test cricket for India come true a few years ago. He played 16 games for his country and was even a part of India's infamous Border Gavaskar Trophy win in 2021.

However, owing to the influx of youth, Vihari saw himself getting sidelined. Regardless, he kept fighting in the domestic circuit for his state, Andhra Pradesh, until he witnessed an episode of sheer humiliation.

After Andhra's quarter-final loss against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season, Vihari hit out at the Andhra Cricket Association for entertaining political interference. 

He alleged that he once shouted at the 17th player of the squad, who happened to be a politician's son. The player then complained to his dad, who called for Vihari's removal from the captaincy.

Hanuma Vihari was hurt by the act of disrespect and decided to never play for Andhra ever again.

After the post went viral, the player in question, Prudhvi Raj, hit back with an Instagram story. He called Vihari's claims false and said that no one is above the game of cricket.

Raj added that personal and vulgar attacks are unacceptable and condemned Vihari's social media bombshell claim. He further claimed that the Andhra team knows exactly what happened, and Vihari is simply obtaining sympathy. 

Prudhvi also referred to Hanuma Vihari as "Mr. So-called champion" and reckoned that there was nothing he could do better than play such dirty games.

However, the whole Andhra team released a letter supporting Hanuma Vihari's stand and it would be interesting to see how the whole saga unfolds.