Mohammad Azharuddin
| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mohammad Azharuddin | |||
| Born | 8 February 1963 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India | |||
| Nickname | Azhar | |||
| Batting style | Right-handed batsman | |||
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium | |||
| Role | Batsman | |||
| International information | ||||
| National side | India | |||
| Test debut (cap 169) | 31 December 1984 v England | |||
| Last Test | 2 March 2000 v South Africa | |||
| ODI debut (cap 51) | 20 January 1985 v England | |||
| Last ODI | 3 June 2000 v Pakistan | |||
| Domestic team information | ||||
| Years | Team | |||
| 1981–2000 | Hyderabad | |||
| 1983–2000 | South Zone | |||
| 1991–1994 | Derbyshire | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
| Matches | 99 | 334 | 229 | 433 |
| Runs scored | 6,215 | 9,378 | 15,855 | 12,941 |
| Batting average | 45.03 | 36.92 | 51.98 | 39.33 |
| 100s/50s | 22/21 | 7/58 | 54/74 | 11/85 |
| Top score | 199 | 153* | 226 | 161* |
| Balls bowled | 13 | 552 | 1,432 | 827 |
| Wickets | 0 | 12 | 17 | 15 |
| Bowling average | – | 39.91 | 46.23 | 47.26 |
| 5 wickets in innings | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | – | n/a | 0 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 0/4 | 3/19 | 3/36 | 3/19 |
| Catches/stumpings | 105/– | 156/– | 220/– | 200/– |
| Source: CricketArchive, 13 February 2009 | ||||
Mohammad Azharuddin 
In his prime, he had a graceful, fluid batting style, comparable to that of his English contemporary, David Gower. The wrist flick was his most characteristic shot and he fared best against spinners. The grace and fluidity of his wrist once prompted John Woodcock, a noted cricket writer, to say, "It's no use asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin. For, it would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby!" [1]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Early life
Azhar, as he is popularly known, grew up in Hyderabad and attended a catholic convent boys school All Saints High School in Hyderabad. Indian cricketers such as Venkatapathy Raju and Noel David have also attended the same school.
[edit] Family and Personal life
Azharuddin is currently married to former Miss India turned actress Sangeeta Bijlani. This is his second marriage. He divorced his first wife Naureen, with whom he had two sons, Asad and Ayaz, after 7 years of marriage. His elder son Asaduddin and younger son Ayazuddin both are playing cricket for their state teams. Asad, is playing for the state U-25 and Ayaz is playing for the state U-17.
[edit] International career
[edit] Highlights
Azhar scored a total of 22 centuries in Test cricket at an average of 45, and 7 in ODIs at an average of 37. He scored a century in each of his first three Tests which is a record. An excellent fielder, he took a world record 156 catches in ODI cricket.
He was given LBW out for 199 in a test match against Sri Lanka and it was his highest Test Score.
In 1991 he was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year and was for many years an inspirational figure in the Indian team with his athletic fielding and leadership.
[edit] Captaincy
Azhar was captain of the Indian team for most of the 1990s. Statistically he is one of India's most successful captains. He won 103 ODI matches as the captain of the Indian team, which is still an Indian record. His 14 Test Match wins as captain, was a record until it was bettered by Sourav Ganguly.
[edit] Match fixing scandal
Towards the end of his career Azharuddin was accused of match-fixing [2]; South African captain Hansie Cronje in his confession for match-fixing had indicated that Azharuddin was the one to introduce him to the bookies. [1]. India's premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation & published a report [2].
Quoting from the report -
"It is clear that mohammad Azharuddin contributed substantially towards the expanding bookie/player nexus in Indian cricket. The enquiry has disclosed that he received large sums of money from the betting syndicates to fix matches. There is also evidence which discloses that he roped in other players also to fix matches, which resulted in this malaise making further inroads into Indian cricket. The evidence against Azharuddin, which is discussed next, clearly establishes that he took money from bookies/punters to fix cricket matches and also the fact that the underworld had approached him to fix matches for them."
Then he admitted to fixing 3 ODI matches [3]
This led the BCCI to ban him from the game of cricket for life in 2000. The BCCI lifted the ban on Azharuddin in 2006 and even honoured him along with other Indian Test captains in a ceremony in Mumbai during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. The ICC, however, claimed that it alone had the right to revoke the ban despite playing no role in handing out the original ban.
In one of his interviews, he claimed that he was being targeted because he was from a minority community. However, this statement backfired badly and invited severe criticism from all parts of the country, including prominent minority community organisations in India. Ultimately, Azharuddin had to apologise publicly and retract his statements.
The ban cost him a chance of joining the 100 Test club, in the end finishing stranded on 99 Test matches.
[edit] Political career
Azharuddin formally joined the Indian National Congress party on February 19, 2009. He contested the Indian general election, 2009 from Moradabad in western Uttar Pradesh. He won the elections as a candidate of Indian National Congress party by defeating his nearest BJP rival Sarvesh Kumar Singh with a margin of more than 50,000 votes. He has promised to construct a University and a Stadium as well in Moradabad. He has also promised to improve the City's Electricity Problem[4]
[edit] Test statistics
[edit] By opponent
Australia
- 780 runs at 39.00 with 2 hundreds
England
- 1278 runs at 58.09 with 6 hundreds
New Zealand
- 796 runs at 61.23 with 2 hundreds
Pakistan
- 769 runs at 40.47 with 3 hundreds
South Africa
- 779 runs at 41.00 with 4 hundreds
Sri Lanka
- 1215 runs at 55.23 with 5 hundreds
West Indies
- 539 runs at 28.37 with 0 hundreds
Zimbabwe
- 59 runs at 14.75 with 0 hundreds
Total
- 6215 runs at 45.04 with 22 hundreds
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