Mohammad Azharuddin

Mohammad Azharuddinpronunciation(born 8 February 1963 in Hyderabad, then Andhra Pradesh now Telangana State, India) is a former Indian cricket captain and politician. He was a middle order batsman and captained the Indian cricket team in the 1990s. He was elected as a member of the Parliament from Moradabad constituency on an Indian National Congress party ticket.
Azharuddin was implicated in a cricket match-fixing scandal in 2000 and was banned by BCCI for life. Sachin Tendulkar and Navjot Singh Sidhu played key roles in that case and were actually blamed for match fixing. On 8 November 2012, the Andhra Pradesh High Court lifted the ban describing it as "unsustainable".

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

Azharuddin made his debut for the Indian cricket team in Test cricket in 1984 against England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 31 December 1984. and hit three centuries in his first three matches. Azharuddin scored a total of 22 centuries in test cricket, at an average of 45 and seven in ODIs at an average of 37. As a fielder, he took 156 catches in ODI cricket. He played 99 test matches with a highest score of 199, scored against Sri Lanka.

Captaincy

Azharuddin became the captain of the Indian team succeeding Krishnamachari Srikkanth in 1989. He led the Indian team in 47 Test matches and 174 One Day Internationals. He led the team to victory in 90 ODIs, the highest until surpassed by M.S. Dhoni on 2 September 2014. His 14 test match wins as captain was a record until it was beaten by Sourav Ganguly, who has 21 test match wins to his name.

Match fixing scandal

Azharuddin was accused and found guilty of match-fixing in the match-fixing scandal in 2000. Then South African captain Hansie Cronje indicated that Azharuddin was the one to introduce him to the bookies. The ICC and the BCCI banned Azharuddin for life based on a report by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

On 8 November 2012, a Divisional Bench consisting of Justice Ashutosh Mohunta and Krishna Mohan Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court revoked the ban imposed.

Style

Azharuddin was a middle-order batsman of

India. He was known for a 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 Epsom Derby." Retired cricketer Venkataraghavan stated that "Azharuddin had the best wrists in the game".

Azhruddin formally joined the Indian National Congress party on 19 February 2009. He won the Indian general election, 2009 from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh.

Mohammad Azharuddin's career performance graph

Test career

Azharuddin was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1986. and he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991

Azharuddin married Naureen in 1987 had two sons with her. In 1996, he divorced her and married actress Sangeeta Bijlani. The marriage ended in a divorce in 2010 reportedly due to Azhar's alleged affair with badminton player Jwala Gutta, which was declined by the player. His younger son Ayazuddin died in a road accident in 2011.

A Bollywood film Azhar, directed by Tony D'Souza, was based on his life. The film featured Emraan Hashmi as Mohammad Azharuddin, Nargis Fakhri as Sangeeta Bijlani and Prachi Desai as first wife Naureen. It was released on 13 May 2016.

One Day Internationals

Man of the Match awards

S No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	Pakistan	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	20 February 1985	93 (135 balls: 4x4)	India won by 6 wickets.
2	New Zealand	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	25 January 1986	69 (90 balls: 8x4)	India won by 5 wickets.
3	England	Kennington Oval, London	24 May 1986	3 ct. ; 83 (154 balls: 8x4)	India won by 9 wickets.
4	Australia	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	5 April 1987	84 (129 balls: 4x4, 1x6)	India won by 7 wickets.
5	Australia	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	22 October 1987	54* (45 balls: 5x4, 1x6); 3.4-0-19-3, 1 ct.	India won by 56 runs.
6	New Zealand	Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara	17 December 1988	108* (65 balls: 10x4, 3x6)	India won by 2 wickets.
7	Sri Lanka	Eden Gardens, Kolkata	4 January 1991	54* (39 balls: 4x4, 1x6)	India won by 7 wickets.
8	England	Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior	5 March 1993	95* (63 balls: 12x4, 1x6)	India won by 4 wickets.
9	Sri Lanka	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	25 July 1993	53 (57 balls: 2x4, 1x6)	India won by 1 run.
10	South Africa	Eden Gardens, Kolkata	24 November 1993	90 (118 balls: 7x4, 1x6); 1 ct.	India won by 2 runs.
11	Sri Lanka	Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo	17 September 1994	1 run out, 45 (51 balls: 1x4, 1x6)	India won by 6 wickets.
12	West Indies	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai	23 October 1994	81 (84 balls: 7x4, 1x6)	India won by 4 wickets.
13	Sri Lanka	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	14 April 1995	1 run out, 90* (89 balls: 5x4, 2x6)	India won by 8 wickets.
14	Australia	PCA IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali	3 November 1996	94 (104 balls: 4x4, 2x6); 1 ct.	India won by 5 runs.
15	Pakistan	Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka	11 January 1998	100 (111 balls: 7x4)	India won by 18 runs.
16	Zimbabwe	Barabati Stadium, Cuttack	9 April 1998	153* (150 balls: 17x4, 1x6); 1 ct.	India won by 32 runs.
17	Sri Lanka	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	6 November 1998	94 (131 balls: 3x4, 4x6)	India won by 3 wickets.
18	Pakistan	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	23 March 2000	1 ct. , 54 (89 balls: 7x4)	India won by 5 wickets.