Hanuma Vihari gave her first reaction after the spat with the Andhra Cricket Association broke out during an exclusive show with India Today.
In a lengthy statement posted on Instagram, Vihari said he was asked to resign following a clash with a player, whose father, a “politician”, had lodged a complaint with the Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association. .
The middle-order batsman shared a letter from his teammates with the state unit president, flaunting the support he has from his teammates.
The 17th player, who later identified himself as KN Prudviraj, said Mr Vihari had done it to garner sympathy. ACA also claimed that the players were threatened into signing a letter of support.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the interviews.
Hanuma Vihari : As a cricketer, I have been playing for a long time. I have experienced many struggles. I have played in both states. It's not easy to play. I led the Andhra cricket team to that standard. By chance, I yelled at player number 17, who wasn't supposed to be in the locker room. According to the rules, he shouldn't have been there. However, he took it the wrong way and complained to his father. And everything went wrong from there. They complained about me. And they removed me from the captain's post even though there was no wrongdoing on my part. But I continued to play for the team. Because I loved the game and I respected the game. After the tournament ended, I sent out a message on social media because I felt people should know the truth about what happened.
How long has it been since the incident occurred? What challenges did you face?
Bihari: Several months have passed since the incident occurred. For the past few months, I've kept it to myself. It was really tough for me because I've been playing professionally for a long time. It really hurts my self-esteem. All I was thinking about was the tournament and my team. Once the tournament was over, I wanted to stand up for myself. If I didn't do that, I would never have been able to forgive myself.
Do you have some suspicions against you?
Bihari: What they are complaining about is that my actions are not correct. And I don't know if they did, but then I was forced to resign. I wasn't okay with it. I had to resign. There was no other choice. I sent the email because I wanted to maintain team morale. The real reason was that I didn't want to quit. We were thinking of winning the Ranji Trophy. But since that complaint, everything has gone wrong.
Need some help?
Bihari: I wanted to stand up for my rights. I sent a letter to all 15 players except myself, stating that they wanted me as a player and as captain of the team. The team trusted me as a leader. Thank you for all the help I've received in the last 24 hours. I came out to speak because people need to know the truth. That's why I came forward.
Is there anything you would like to ask?
Bihari: When I was asked to resign, I argued a lot. I asked people for help. That can't happen. After all the damage that happened, I don't want anything more. I didn't want to ask anyone questions, I didn't want to answer them. People can make their own claims and assumptions. There's no basis for that. I let it out for my own peace of mind.
how are you? What about you and your family?
Bihari: My family supports me and we are strong.
Are you expecting a positive response from the ACA?
Bihari: I don't know. It's up to them what they want to answer. If they said something different, we'd probably take a different route on how to approach this.
