One of the most successful captain and batsman produced by India, Mohammad Azharuddin’s career was tainted due to match-fixing scandals which broke out in 2000.
As a result, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) handed a life-ban to the Hyderabad cricketer who is amongst the highest scorers for the country in international cricket.
Overall, Azhar accumulated 16,000 runs in both ODIs and Test cricket. Also, the ex-middle-order batsman holds one of the most impressive win percentage records for the country. After appealing to Andhra Pradesh High Court, his ban got lifted following a judicial fight of 12 years.
He was later elected as the president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) and felt his redemption after attending the BCCI AGM meeting.
“I don’t want to blame anyone for what happened. I really don’t know the reasons for banning me. But I had decided to fight it and I am grateful that after 12 years I got cleared. I felt very satisfied when after being elected president of Hyderabad association I went and attended the BCCI AGM meeting,” Azhar told cricketpakistan.com.
In the hindsight, Azhar did not hold any disappointment for ending up playing one short of the 100th Test match milestone.
“I am a firm believer in fate and whatever is in your destiny it happens. I look at this way that nowadays if a player is a class act he ends up playing more than 100 Tests. So I don’t think this record of 99 Test matches that I hold is going to be broken,” the 57-year old added.
In the end, Azhar counted his blessings for being able to lead to India for a substantial period of time. “I played for around 16 to 17 years and I captained for around 10 years. What more can I ask for?” Azhar concluded.
