Mohammad Azharuddin

Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former cricketer who also served as the Indian national cricket team's captain. He was a right-handed middle order batter and an occasional medium fast bowler. He played 99 Test matches and 334 One Day Internationals for India. As a captain, he led the team to wins in the 1990-91 and 1995 Asia Cups and reached the semi-finals of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. He captained India in three Cricket World Cups, the most by any Indian captain, all during the 1990s. He was also a part of the Indian squad which won the 1985 World Championship of Cricket.

His cricketing career came to an abrupt end in 2000 after he was banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for life due to his alleged involvement in a match fixing scandal. In 2012, the Andhra Pradesh High Court lifted the life ban after appeal. In September 2019, he was elected as the president of Hyderabad Cricket Association.

In 2009, Azharuddin joined Indian National Congress and was elected as a member of parliament for Moradabad. He was appointed as the President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee in 2018.

Early and personal life
Azharuddin was born on 8 February 1963 in Hyderabad to Mohammad Azizuddin and Yousuf Sultana. He attended All Saints High School and graduated from Nizam College, Osmania University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

Azharuddin married Naureen in 1987 and they had two sons, Mohammad Asaduddin and Mohammad Ayazuddin. In 1996, he divorced Naureen and married actress Sangeeta Bijlani. After Azharuddin's rumored affairs with multiple people, notably badminton player Jwala Gutta, Sangeeta filed for a divorce in 2010. His younger son Ayazuddin died in a bike accident in 2011. His elder son Asaduddin is a domestic cricketer and he married Anam Mirza, the sister of Sania Mirza in 2019.

Debut and early years
Azharuddin made his debut for the Indian cricket team in Test cricket against England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 31 December 1984 scoring 110 in his first innings. He subsequently scored two more centuries in his next two Test matches in the series. He made his ODI debut against the visiting England team at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on 20 January 1985 and made an unbeaten 47.

Captaincy of national team
In 1989, Azharuddin was appointed as the captain of the Indian team succeeding Krishnamachari Srikkanth. He led the Indian team in 47 Test matches and 174 One Day Internationals. He led the team to victory in 14 tests and 90 ODIs, both records until surpassed by Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni respectively.

During India's tour of England in 1990, Azharuddin scored 121 in the first test at Lord's in 1990. Though India lost the match, former England cricketer Vic Marks called it "the most dazzling Test century" he had ever witnessed, in his column for The Observer. In the second Test in Manchester, Azharuddin scored his tenth century in tests with a 179 runs while putting on a 112-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar in the first innings. Playing his 39th Test, he reached his 10th Test century off 155 balls. Azharuddin ended the series with 426 runs at an average of 85.20 which was the highest tally by an India captain in a test series in England until it was broken by Virat Kohli in 2018.

Asia cup victories and World cups
Azharuddin led India to victory in the 1990–91 Asia Cup beating Sri Lanka in the final. He scored 54 runs in the final and was awarded the Man of the match award. Azharuddin led India at the 1992 Cricket World Cup where India were knocked out in the group stage and finished seventh out of nine teams with two wins in eight matches. India won the 1995 Asia Cup beating Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the final where Azharuddin captained the side and won the man of the match scoring runs. Azharuddin again led the team in the 1996 Cricket World Cup co-hosted by India. India finished in third place in the group stage, qualifying for the quarter finals where they beat Pakistan by 39 runs to make it to the semi finals. India lost in the semifinals to Sri Lanka after the match was abandoned mid way due to crowd trouble when India were eight wickets down for 120 runs in response to Sri Lanka's score of 251/8.

Later years
During the second test of South Africa's India tour in 1996–97 at Kolkata, Azharuddin scored a century off 74 deliveries equaling Kapil Dev's record for the fastest test century by an India player and fourth overall, in terms of balls faced. Azharuddin scored another century in the next test making an unbeaten 163 and helped India record their biggest win in Test history in terms of runs (280) at the time. He was named the man of the match and the series after aggregating 388 runs at an average of 77.60 Azharuddin scored seven centuries in ODIs with a best of 153 coming against Zimbabwe on 9 April 1998 in Cuttack. He scored the last of his 22 centuries in tests against South Africa in Bangalore in March 2000, which also turned out to be the last test match in his career. Azharuddin played the final match of his international career in an ODI against Pakistan on 3 June 2000 in the 2000 Asia Cup.

Match fixing allegations and ban
During India's tour of South Africa in 2000, a series that was won by India 3–2, Azharuddin scored only 112 runs at an average of 28. Azharuddin was accused of match fixing in the match fixing scandal that erupted in the aftermath of the series. Then captain of South Africa Hansie Cronje stated that Azharuddin was the one to introduce him to bookies. International Cricket Council and BCCI banned Azharuddin for life based on a report by Central Bureau of Investigation.

Post retirement
In 2003, a trial court upheld the lifetime ban but it was later overturned on 8 November 2012 by a divisional bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. In 2019, Azhar was elected as the president of Hyderabad Cricket Association.

Playing style
Azharuddin was a right handed middle order batter and an occasional medium fast bowler. He was known for his graceful and fluid batting style. John Woodcock, a cricket writer, said of him, "It's no use asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin. It would be like expecting a greyhound to win The Derby." Former cricketer and umpire Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan stated that "Azharuddin had the best wrists in the game". Mike Atherton and Angus Fraser said Azharuddin's "genius was second only to Brian Lara among batsmen of their generation."

Statistics
Predominantly a middle order batsman, Azharuddin played 99 test matches for India and scored 6,215 runs at an average of 45.03, including 22 centuries and 21 half-centuries. He scored 9,378 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs) from 334 matches at an average of 36.92 and 156 catches as a fielder. Azharuddin made his debut with a 110 against England in Kolkata in 1984 and scored 102 against South Africa in Bangalore in his last match, becoming the first Indian and the fifth batsman ever to score a century in his first and last Test matches.

Political career
Azharuddin joined Indian National Congress party on 19 February 2009. He won the 2009 Indian general election from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh to become a member of parliament. He contested the 2014 Indian general election from Tonk–Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan but lost to Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria of Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2018, he was appointed as working president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. He contested the 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election from Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency in Hyderabad but lost to Maganti Gopinath of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.

Awards
Azharuddin was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1986 and India's fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri in 1988. He was named one of five Wisden's cricketers of the year for 1991. Azharuddin has also received doctorate degree (honoris causa) from Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi on 21st September 2023.

In popular culture
A Bollywood film Azhar, directed by Tony D'Souza, was based on his life. The film featured Emraan Hashmi as Azharuddin and was released on 13 May 2016. A Netflix film ''Caught Out: Crime. Corruption. Cricket.'' depicting the investigations and allegations of match fixing against former cricketers including Mohammad Azharuddin premiered on 17 March 2023.