Hanuma Vihari seems to be changing his mind as he has decided not to play for Madhya Pradesh in the upcoming domestic season.
Earlier this year, the disgraced Indian batsman had sensationally announced that he would never represent Andhra again as he alleged political interference in the team selection. Hanuma Vihari made the allegations in February after Andhra’s Ranji Trophy campaign came to an end with a defeat against Madhya Pradesh.
In an Instagram post, Hanuma Vihari also alleged that he was forced to resign as captain after the team’s first match of the season against Bengal. Vihari claimed that he lost his captaincy after shouting at the number 17 player in the squad because the latter’s father was a politician. He also claimed that he felt humiliated and embarrassed after the incident before announcing that he would never play for Andhra again.
Recently, he also got his no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Andhra Cricket Association to represent any other team in the domestic circuit. Before getting the NOC, the former Andhra captain stated that he had been applying for the NOC for the last two months but did not receive it till this month.
“I have been asking for NOC for two months, I sent them four times. I didn’t give them my NOC. Now things have changed, they issued me my NOC immediately,” wrote Hanuma Vihari on X.
Hanuma Vihari rejects Madhya Pradesh again:
After Hanuma Vihari received the NOC, he was expected to finally join Madhya Pradesh. However, his head coach Chandrakant Pandit has confirmed that the middle-order batsman has decided not to join the team. Vihari already informed Pandit about his decision.
“He has backed out. I got a message this morning that he won’t be playing for us. It’s unfortunate but we can’t help it,” Pandit told CricketNext.
The media outlet further claimed that the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) was waiting for Vihari to file the NOC so that all the paperwork could be completed. However, the NOC never arrived before the batsman confirmed that he would not be joining the team. Pandit tried to contact the batsman over the last week, but Vihari did not respond and finally called again on Wednesday (June 19).
“I’ve been trying to talk to him for the last 5 or 6 days but I couldn’t get through. Then I messaged him and he called again last night and said he would update me. This morning I got a message telling him he won’t be able to play with us.” “Pandit added.
Vihari rejected Madhya Pradesh for the second consecutive year and MPCA officials are reportedly not happy with the batsman. The batsman himself approached Pandit after the break-up with the Andhra Cricket Association, but he decided not to join the team now.
Interestingly, Vihari’s post on how to get NOC after a long delay is no longer available on his timeline. There is a possibility that she may decide to stay with the Andhra team after the recent political development in the state.
