Hanuma Vihari rejoins Hyderabad, parts ways with Andhra ahead of 2021-22 domestic season

Indian middle-order batter Hanuma Vihari has announced that he will return to Hyderabad as he is “parting ways with Andhra Cricket Association on good terms”. The 27-year-old, who has played 12 Tests and was a part of India’s 20-member squad for England Tests, led Andhra for five years.

He is understood to have obtained a No Objection Certificate from Andhra Cricket Association. Vihari took to Twitter to make his decision public: “I’m taking this opportunity to inform everyone that I’m parting ways with Andhra Cricket Association on good terms.”

“I’ve had the privilege to captain and represent Andhra for the past 5 years. We’ve blossomed into a team that we can be proud of and I hereby thank all my teammates, coaches and office bearers of the Association for the constant support,” wrote Vihari.

“I will be a part of Hyderabad Cricket Association from the coming season”, his post further read.

Vihari made his India debut at The Oval against England during the 2018 tour, while he was more recently in action for Warwickshire in the County Championship 2021, where he amassed 100 runs in 6 innings before participating in India’s three-day warm-up fixture against Select County XI in Durham. Vihari, however, did not get a chance to play in either of the four Tests of the series, which was cut a Test short after Covid-19 cases emerged inside the Indian camp.

Hanuma Vihari not a part of India’s limited-overs setup

Vihari, who neither has an IPL deal nor is a part of India’s white-ball setup, will be in action in the 2021-22 domestic season, which gets underway from September 21. The BCCI has announced a total of 2127 games in the season across the men’s and women’s categories. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will kickstart the senior men’s calendar from October 27, with the final to be played on November 22, 2021.

As per, the revised schedule, the Ranji Trophy, which was cancelled last year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be played between January 5 and March 2, after Vijay Hazare Trophy, which runs between December 1 to 29. Further, as per the tweaked formats, the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, the Ranji Trophy and the Vijay Hazare (men’s one-day) Trophy will have five elite groups of six teams each and one plate group of eight teams (total of 38 teams).

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— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) September 15, 2021