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‘Respected Vihari, are you ready?’: R. Ashwin invites Hanuma Vihari on his YouTube talk show amid Andhra Controversy

Ravichandran Ashwin extended an invitation to Hanuma Vihari to appear as a guest on his YouTube talk show, 'Kutty Stories'.

user-circle cricketcountry.com Written by Daisy Mehta
Published: Feb 27, 2024, 02:36 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 27, 2024, 02:36 PM (IST)

Following Hanuma Vihari’s social media declaration of his resignation from playing for Andhra Pradesh in domestic cricket, citing his removal from the team’s captaincy, Ravichandran Ashwin extended an invitation for him to appear as a guest on his YouTube talk show, ‘Kutty Stories’.

“Respected Vihari, are you ready?” Ashwin wrote. Vihari responded: “Whenever you ready, I am too.”

Vihari’s disclosure was followed by Andhra’s defeat to Madhya Pradesh by a narrow margin of five runs in the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy 2023/24 season, held at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Monday.

“We fought hard till the end, but it wasn’t meant to be. Gutted to lose another quarter with Andhra. 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 at the 17th player, and he complained to his dad (who is a politician), and 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 knockouts 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 was because I respect the game and my team. The sad part is association thinks that players have to listen to whatever they say and that players are there because of them. I felt humiliated and embarrassed, but I’ve not expressed it out until today.

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“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 the association doesn’t want us to grow,” wrote Vihari in his detailed post.