This is a third-rate controversy that is not good for Indian cricket. Could the mudslinging between senior cricketer Hanuma Vihari and his state body, Andhra Cricket Association (ACA), been avoided? We don’t know. But better sense must prevail and the whole thing should be put to an end at the earliest.
Vihari, who played 16 Tests between 2018 and 2022, has alleged that he was asked to step down as the Andhra cricket team captain for reprimanding a team-mate whose father is a politician. “I was the captain in the first game against Bengal, during that game I shouted on the 17th player and he complained to his dad (who is a politician), his dad in turn asked the Association to take action against me,” the 30-year-old posted on social media, after his team’s four-run defeat to Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final.
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“Sad part is association thinks that players have to listen to whatever they say and players are there because of them,” Vihari added to the post, stressing that he felt embarrassed.
The player in question, Prudhviraj KN, in turn, has rebuffed his skipper’s claim, posting: “Personal attacks and vulgar language is unacceptable in any kind of human platform.”
Ricky Bhui subsequently replaced Vihari as Andhra captain and the latter said he would leave and ply his trade elsewhere. The ACA, meanwhile, has decided to conduct an inquiry.
The whole thing is in bad taste, but public spats between players and their respective state associations are not new in Indian cricket. Almost every cricket body has some functionaries who are not up to the mark. Almost every association has some players whose conducts are not always up to scratch.
Virat Kohli and DDCA
He is one of the all-time greats, but Kohli once wasn’t included in a Delhi junior team because his father allegedly refused to pay a bribe. “In my home state (Delhi), sometimes things happen that aren’t fair. On one occasion, a certain someone didn’t play by the rules when it came to selection criteria,” Kohli told Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri in a web chat a few years ago.
“He told my father, while I had the merit, a little extra (bribe) was needed to confirm my selection. My father simply said, ‘if you want to select Virat, then let it be purely on merit. I will give you nothing extra’. I didn’t get selected. I cried a lot. I was broken,” the former India captain recounted.
Ambati Rayudu and HCA
Ahead of the 2019-20 Ranji season, Rayudu decided to take a break from the tournament and took to Twitter (now X), alleging “rampant corruption and politics in selection of teams” in the Hyderabad Cricket Association. He tagged the then Telangana IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao in his tweet, which obviously didn’t go down well with the state association top brass. The batsman eventually moved to Baroda and after winning his sixth IPL title as a player last year, he decided to call it quits.
Nitish Rana and DDCA
Rana decided to move from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh ahead of the ongoing domestic season. The middle-order batsman and the Kolkata Knight Riders star felt that he wasn’t valued enough in the Delhi cricket set-up. Then, after scoring a hundred for his new state team, the southpaw wiped his bat, apparently taking a dig at Yash Dhull, who replaced Rana as Delhi captain at the start of the season.
“It was in my mind that the dressing room culture in Delhi wasn’t good enough for my career. I felt a change was necessary,” Rana had said.
Epilogue
These are just a few instances. There have been several cases of cricketers falling out with their respective state associations. Coming back to the Vihari-ACA fiasco, it becomes deplorable, when a state association calls out a player for allegedly ‘coercing’ the remaining team members to sign a letter in a public show of support. At this juncture, it doesn’t solely remain a matter between a player and his state body. It has become an issue related to Indian cricket. The BCCI would do well to intervene and facilitate a solution.
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