Middle-order batter Hanuma Vihari believes left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has to be in the playing eleven for India’s second Test against Bangladesh at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, citing the need to have variety in the spin-bowling department on a black-soil pitch. With 53 wickets in 12 Tests since his debut in 2017, Kuldeep didn’t play in India’s 280-run win over Bangladesh in the first Test at Chennai, as India preferred to have a combination of three pacers and two spinners. But the knowledge of conditions at his home ground makes him an essential bowler for India to have in their playing eleven.

“They will probably make a change – they might play an extra spinner instead of a fast bowler. I think Kuldeep has to play in the eleven because if you have all fingers spinners, I don’t think you’ll get much assistance from the pitch in Kanpur – it won’t deteriorate much as what we’ve seen in Chennai because black soil takes a lot of time to deteriorate.”

“It eventually gets better that’s what we’ve seen against New Zealand as well where they could draw the Test match against India in Kanpur. So I think they need variety and Kuldeep Yadav will come into the eleven, as it’s also his own ground as well.”

“He knows the conditions here best, so I think it’s a no-brainer – if the wicket doesn’t offer anything for the fast bowlers if there’s no grass on the pitch I think it’s a straightaway Kuldeep in for one of the fast bowlers,” said Vihari, an expert with JioCinema & Sports18, in a conversation with IANS on Thursday.

India have played 23 Tests in Kanpur, winning seven of them while drawing 17 games. With the venue having the reputation of being slow, low and batter-friendly black-soil pitch, Vihari reckons bowlers will be in for a stern examination in Kanpur.

“With the experience of me playing in Kanpur and watching games, I feel it will be a slow wicket as compared to Chennai. It will have less bounce than what we’ve seen in Chennai because there, they played on a red soil pitch which offered more bounce. But Kanpur pitch will test the bowlers.”

“They have to be really patient to get wickets and batters will have a good time in Kanpur compared to what it was in Chennai. So I think it’s about patience and whoever can keep at it for a longer period of time, we’ll have a good result. Obviously, India have good experience of playing in Kanpur, although it was a draw against New Zealand in 2021.”

India’s thumping win in Chennai was set up by a stupendous 199-run partnership between an elegant Ravichandran Ashwin and a rock-solid Ravindra Jadeja, who made 113 and 86 respectively. The duo also picked 11 wickets together to play a pivotal role in the hosts’ resounding victory at Chennai and consolidate their World Test Championship top spot.

It’s safe to say that Ashwin and Jadeja are the backbone of India becoming a formidable force to reckon with in Tests at home. “Ashwin and Jadeja make a huge difference to the Indian batting lineup, especially if you talk about the overall impact – what they created is second to none. They’re one and two in the best all-rounders in the world, but the impact they create with the bat is humongous.”

“In the first innings at Chennai, where India were in trouble at 144/6, Ashwin got a century and bailed out India in a difficult situation. Even Jadeja when we tour abroad has batted so well in the recent past. He’s almost been our best batter in the last couple of years so that’s the kind of impact they’ve been creating.”

“I think it’s experience and the confidence they gained by playing so many years of international cricket. There’s no substitute to experience and that’s what they’ve gained over the years. It’s been over a decade of them playing together – they understand each other even with the bat when they’re batting together. So, the confidence and experience they’ve gained over the years playing Test cricket is showing now,” elaborated Vihari, who played 16 Tests for India.

When the Kanpur Test begins, Ashwin will again be in the spotlight to put out another match-winning all-round performance for India. “His performance speaks a lot rather than me speaking because he’s been one of the greats for India – picking up 500 plus wickets and then scoring his sixth hundred in Test cricket – it’s commendable for the way he’s been.”

“He was working on his game while playing TNPL and got his batting form from there. We always knew about Ashwin the bowler, but I think his batting has also improved. It sounds funny, but he’s 38, and yet, still works on his batting. Plus, in the Test, not just the runs, but the way he got it – it’s his fastest Test 100 now – that shows that he’s worked on his game, stroke play and it was clearly evident with the way he was playing in Chennai,” concluded Vihari.

File photo of Hanuma Vihari© X (formerly Twitter)

On Monday, Indian cricket team star Hanuma Vihari brought forward some serious allegations against one of his teammates in the Andhra Pradesh team, saying he has been “humiliated” and “lost self-respect.” Vihari was one of the main architects in India’s memorable Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph in Australia in the 2020021 season. Though he is currently out of the Indian cricket team, Vihari remains one of the most well-known names in the domestic circuit.  Vihari hit out at a team-mate (son of a politician) who he alleged had asked his father to take action against him after the veteran player shouted at him during a match.

Vihari also shared the copy of his statement on his X account signed by other players in the Andhra team with a one-line comment — “the whole team knows (what had happened on that day).”

Andhra’s campaign in the on-going Ranji season came to an end when they lost to Madhya Pradesh by four runs in the quarterfinals at Indore.

“I love the team. I love the way we’re growing every season but the association doesn’t want us to grow,” Vihari wrote on Instagram.

“I felt humiliated and embarrassed but I’ve not expressed it out until today. 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 association doesn’t want us to grow.”

The middle-order batter, who has played 16 Tests for India, started the season as Andhra captain but stepped down after the first match against last year’s runners-up Bengal.

At the time, Vihari attributed his decision to move away from leadership role due to “personal reasons” but now the right-handed batter said the association had asked him to resign.

“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), 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,” said Vihari.

However, the player in question, KN Prudhvi Raj, took to Instagram and accused Vihari of making false claims.

“Hello everyone! I’m that guy, you guys are searching in the comment box, whatever you guys heard is absolutely false, no one is higher than the game and my self-respect is much bigger than anything.

“Personal attacks and vulgar language are unacceptable in any kind of human platform. Everyone in the team knows what happened that day. Nuvu inthaku minchi emmi pikkulevu (You can’t get any better than this) Mr so called champion. Play this sympathy game however you want,” wrote Prudhvi Raj.

However, Vihari later shared the copy of his statement on his X account which was signed by other players in the Andhra team with a one-line comment — “the whole team knows.” However, the 30-year-old expressed grouse that the association did not value his sacrifices for the team over the years, recalling last year’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Madhya Pradesh.

A forearm injury to his right-hand had forced him to bat left-handed in that game, but he could not prevent Andhra’s ouster.

“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 knock outs 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,” he added.

A few hours after the social media posts, there was an interaction between Indian cricket tam star bowler Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari.

Ashwin asked Vihari on X: “Kutty stories with ash ” Vihari Garu ” Meeru ready unnara (Are you ready)????  @Hanumavihari”

To which Hanuma Vihari replied: “Meru Epudu ante apudu (When you mean then)”

Meru Epudu ante apudu https://t.co/AQFP44g4ta

— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) February 26, 2024

Meanwhile, the bitter spat between Hanuma Vihari and Andhra Cricket Association took a fresh turn as the state body on Monday announced an inquiry against the senior batter, who had accused the ACA of forcing him to resign from captaincy at the start of the ongoing season.

With PTI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

The bitter spat between Hanuma Vihari and Andhra Cricket Association took a fresh turn as the state body on Monday announced an inquiry against the senior batter, who had accused the ACA of forcing him to resign from captaincy at the start of the ongoing season. Drama unfolded after Andhra’s campaign in the Ranji Trophy ended in a defeat on Monday as Vihari announced that he will never play for the side due to “mistreatment” by the state association.

“Complaints were received from teammates, support staff and ACA administrators about Vihari’s use of foul language and abusive behaviour. ACA will conduct a thorough inquiry into all complaints and the due course of action will be communicated,” said the ACA in a media release.

Vihari had also hit out at a reserve team-mate (son of a politician) who he alleged had asked his father to take action against him after the veteran player shouted at him during a match.

ACA stated that it had received a complaint from the junior player about Vihari at that time.

“It has come to our attention that Mr Vihari personally verbally abuse a specific player during the Bengal Ranji game in front of everyone. The affected player filed an official compliant with the ACA,” the release said.

Vihari had shared the copy of his statement on his X account signed by other players in the Andhra team with a one-line comment — “the whole team knows (what had happened on that day).” “Sad part is the association thinks that players have to listen to whatever they say and players are there because of them (association). 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,” Vihari wrote on Instagram.

The middle-order batter, who has played 16 Tests for India, started the season as Andhra captain but stepped down after the first match against last year’s runners-up Bengal.

Ricky Bhui led the team for the rest of the season.

At the time, Vihari attributed his decision to move away from leadership role due to “personal reasons” but now the right-handed batter said the association had asked him to resign.

“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), his dad in return asked the association to take action against me.

“I was asked to resign from captaincy without any fault of mine. I never said anything on a personal note to the player,” said Vihari.

But the ACA said the decision to appoint a new captain was taken in view of Vihari’s possible non-availability because of him being an India prospect.

Later the player in question, KN Prudhvi Raj, took to Instagram and accused Vihari of making false claims.

“Hello everyone! I’m that guy, you guys are searching in the comment box, whatever you guys heard is absolutely false, no one is higher than the game and my self-respect is much bigger than anything.

“Personal attacks and vulgar language are unacceptable in any kind of human platform. Everyone in the team knows what happened that day…Mr so called champion. Play this sympathy game however you want,” wrote Prudhvi.

Vihari has also expressed grouse that the association did not value his sacrifices for the team over the years, recalling last year’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Madhya Pradesh when he played through an injury.

“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 knock outs 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,” he added.

Ahead of the 2023-2024 domestic season, Vihari was also linked with a switch to Madhya Pradesh but he decided to stay on with Andhra.

The ACA said it was Vihari who reversed the decision and decided to stay on with Andhra team. 

Drama unfolded after Andhra’s campaign in the Ranji Trophy ended in defeat on Monday with senior batter Hanuma Vihari saying he will never play for the side due to “mistreatment” by the state association, and that he was asked to resign rather than him stepping down as skipper after the first game of the season. Vihari also hit out at a team-mate (son of a politician) who he alleged had asked his father to take action against him after the veteran player shouted at him during a match. Vihari also shared the copy of his statement on his X account signed by other players in the Andhra team with a one-line comment — “the whole team knows (what had happened on that day).”

Andhra’s campaign in the on-going Ranji season came to an end when they lost to Madhya Pradesh by four runs in the quarterfinals at Indore. “Sad part is the association thinks that players have to listen to whatever they say and players are there because of them (association). 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,” Vihari wrote on Instagram.

The middle-order batter, who has played 16 Tests for India, started the season as Andhra captain but stepped down after the first match against last year’s runners-up Bengal.

Ricky Bhui led the team for the rest of the season, and he now leads the season’s run chart with 902 runs.

At the time, Vihari attributed his decision to move away from leadership role due to “personal reasons” but now the right-handed batter said the association had asked him to resign.

“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), 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,” said Vihari..

However, the player in question, KN Prudhvi Raj, took to Instagram and accused Vihari of making false claims.

“Hello everyone! I’m that guy, you guys are searching in the comment box, whatever you guys heard is absolutely false, no one is higher than the game and my self-respect is much bigger than anything.

“Personal attacks and vulgar language are unacceptable in any kind of human platform. Everyone in the team knows what happened that day. Nuvu inthaku minchi emmi pikkulevu (You can’t get any better than this) Mr so called champion. Play this sympathy game however you want,” wrote Prudhvi Raj.

However, Vihari later shared the copy of his statement on his X account which was signed by other players in the Andhra team with a one-line comment — “the whole team knows.” However, the 30-year-old expressed grouse that the association did not value his sacrifices for the team over the years, recalling last year’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Madhya Pradesh.

A forearm injury to his right-hand had forced him to bat left-handed in that game, but he could not prevent Andhra’s ouster.

“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 knock outs 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,” he added.

Ahead of the 2023-2024 domestic season, Vihari was also linked with a switch to Madhya Pradesh but he decided to stay on with Andhra after the deal failed to get a final shape.

Vihari had started his career with Hyderabad, and then moved to Andhra during the 2015-16 season. He had returned to Hyderabad for the 2021-2022 season before rejoining Andhra in the 2022-23 season.