Biography of Muhammad Azharuddin:-Mohammad Azharuddin was born on 8 February 1963 in Hyderabad, India.
He is a former test captain of Indian cricket team and a member of Lok Sabha, the Constitution making institute of India from the Hyderabad state of India. He is a Muslim and was banned for life by BCCI on match-fixing allegations in the year 2000.
Biography of Muhammad Azharuddin
- Born:- 8 February 1963 (age 54), Hyderabad, India
- Height:- 1.79 m
- Test Debut:- 31 December 1984 v England
- Last ODI:- 3 June 2000 v Pakistan
- Spouse:- Sangeeta Bijlani (m. 1996–2010), Naureen Azharuddin (m. 1987–1996)
- Children:- Mohammad Asaduddin, Mohammad Ayazuddin
Azhar started his International career with the test format. He scored three centuries in the first three matches of his International career playing at home against England Cricket team.
See Also: Biography of Sourav Ganguly
Azhar faced great resistance from his teammates when he was appointed as captain of India. He successfully won some crucial matches for India as a player and Captain.
Mohammad Azharuddin was sound in his technique to push the ball away to leg-side, later in his career, Azhar worked on his off-side skilled and soon dominated the off-side area, and the 90s was the decade of Mohammad Azharuddin in International cricket.
Some of Azhar’s knocks, like the one at Lords’ was one of the top 20 innings in cricket history, he was a rock-solid force in many occasions and lifted his team’s morale and himself in stressful situations.
Azharuddin Stats & Records
Azhar could not complete his 100 test matches spree because of match-fixing scandal and a lifetime ban imposed on him by BCCI that was lifted in 2012 after 12 years. In 99 test matches, Azhar batted mostly at middle order and scored 6215 runs in 147 innings.
His best knock was against Sri Lanka i.e. 199 in the year 1986. Azhar has made centuries against all test playing nations except West Indies and Zimbabwe. Mohammad Azharuddin test average is 45.03. He scored 22 test centuries and 51 half-centuries in a15-year career.
In 334 ODIs, Azhar made 9378 runs, he was inchesaway to becoming the first International cricketer to score 10 thousand International runs in ODIs before he was banned from all forms of cricket in 2000. Azhar’s batting average in ODIs is 36.92 with the highest score of 153 not out. He made 7 hundred and 58 ODI fifties.
In 229 first-class matches altogether, Mohammad Azharuddin scored 54 centuries and 74 half-centuries with a splendid batting average of 52. It included his double century worth 226 runs and a total score of 15855 runs.
International Career
Before making his debut for India, Mohammad Azharuddin played a lot of street cricket and club cricket. He was selected in Hyderabad zone domestic cricket club in 1981. His right-arm medium bowling gave him an edge over his competitors.
He continued batting well and hired by South Zone in 1983, his talents were utilized and polished in South Zone team that led to his selection in National side.
When England toured India in 1984, Mohammad Azharuddin was India’s best bet against English pace. He played his first test match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 31stDecember 1984. He made his first century on debut hence got selected for the next two games.
Azhar was the eighth Indian cricketer to score a century on debut. Azhar continued the streak and scored three centuries in his first three Test matches. He also became the only player to score three centuries in a row in three test matches.
Soon after the first series against England, Azhar was the permanent member of the squad for home and away series. He was mentored by Kapil Dev, supported by many senior players to solidify the technique and talent. Later in 1986, Azhar made his career-best score of 199 against Islanders (Sri Lanka).
In 1989, BCCI appointed Mohammad Azharuddin as the new captain of India. The honor was accepted willingly and performed flawlessly. At the time of his forced retirement, Azhar was the most successful Test captain for India with 14 wins in 47 matches.
Azhar produced a memorable knock at Lords’ by his century that is still remembered and termed as one of the best innings by any Indian under pressure.
In 174 One Day Internationals, Azhar led team India 90 times to victory. The figure was also the highest one in percentage and numbers when Azhar got retired due to match-fixing allegations.
Azhar held the record for most appearances in ODIs until his last ODI match in 2000. His nearest competitor was Wasim Akram with 305 matches and played for 3-4 years after the ban on Mohammad Azharuddin.
Azharuddin Match Fixing Scandal
In a big match-fixing row that affected several players from at least three tests playing nations targeted Azharuddin Match Fixing as the main culprit. Former South African cricketer Hansie Cronje accepted the match-fixing allegations and told the investigative team that Azharuddin introduced him tobookmakers (bookies).
Soon after Cronje’s statement, Azharuddin Match Fixing scandal was leaked to media, and ICC had to ban him immediately. Later, BCCI chaired a meeting and recorded statements of all cricketers that shared addressing room with Azhar.
It was concluded that Azhar was guilty and life ban was imposed on him afterward. The ban was lifted by Andhra Pradesh High Court in November 2012.
After the match-fixing scandal and lifetime ban on Azharuddin, he joined politics and contested Lok Sabha in 2009 from his constituency i.e. Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh from Indian National Congress ticket.
Muhammad Azharuddin Family and Personal Life
Muhammad Azharuddin married his first wife Naureen Muhammad Azharuddin in 1987, Before match-fixing allegations, Muhammad Azharuddin divorced Naureen in 1996 and married Sangeeta Bijlani who he met a couple of years ago on tour.
The second marriage ended in 2010, the reason was Azhar’s affair with Jwala Gutta, a badminton player. IndiaTimes, a leading newspaper and media agency in India reported in December 2015 that Azhar married for the third time that was later denied by Azhar in a media statement.
The biography of Azharuddin is described best in his biopic starring Imran Hashmi in Ekta Kapoor production biopic “Azhar”. The biopic received worldwide acclamation and support to Azhar. Azhar was proved innocent at the end, but it cannot bring back the years he was denied of playing due to charges.
