Mohammad Azharuddin: Everyone murmurs Sachin Tendulkar’s name when it comes to cricket in India but I was always inspired by the former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin which may be due to the reason that he was the first cricketer I closely watched; a gusty right handed batsman from Hyderabad whose skills and unique style still remain imprinted in my memory. He was the first cricketer I ever saw who could fit both forms of cricket; his wrist flick shot being one of the best he performed and many cricketers. They mentioned that Azharuddin had the best wrist in the game. He was also very comfortable with the paddle shot which is rather different the paddle scoop; the paddle scoop is a modern cricketing shot very nearly played on the air whereas the paddle shot requires a lot of control when the ball comes into the right hander and is played safely along the ground. I first saw him playing the paddle shot specifically against the spinners which did surprise me. His fielding is exceptional; be it gully, point or deep cover he excels at every position and dives when required and took about 150 catches in ODI cricket which remains the 2nd highest in cricketing history. He was successful Indian captain winning multiple matches before Sourav Ganguly surpassed him but he remains the captain who brought about many of the transitional changes. He was also a warm and friendly person; I had the chance to observe him in person on the Palam Air force cricket ground where my colleague Subramanian who was an off spinner from Tumkur, Karnataka and played for the north zone for more than 10 years actually troubled Azharuddin on the pitch with his accuracy and spin; Azharuddin then went as far as to tell him that he was one of the best off spinners in the country after Arshad Ayub and it wouldn’t be any surprise when he would be playing for India. However, Ashish Kapoor was selected instead overrated though his skills were due to the strong recommendation of Bashan Singh Beda. Another thing I was impressed on him he comes down the track casually mere like a walking and lofts spinners in long on and long off and midwicket area is awesome. While I’m hardly one to worry about someone else’s personal life, his divorce to his first wife and the ensuing dalliance with Sangeeta Bijlani is arguably what ensued the detoriation of his cricketing career. Another shocking I had was that he was involved in the match fixing with South African Hanse Cronje hurt me lot which is unacceptable and which banned him from cricket and it was lifted in late 2008. Though he accepted the charges initially and then blamed that he was discriminated as he was from minority Community. This glorious cricketer no doubt had many great moments in his life; however, his divorce from his first wife, separation from the second recently and the loss of his son in a fatal accident have all taken a toll on him apart from the life ban from cricket; he’s been through enough, For this humble and Down to earth Man.. Cheers
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:27:47 +0000
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