Lightning fast fielder
Azharuddin remains as one of India’s first ferocious fielders of all time, and obviously the most dominant one of his era. While speaking about his fielding, Azhar once said. “I do a lot of hard work on fielding – I take a lot of catches.”
A lot is definitely right. He took 156 catches in 334 ODI matches. He also had 105 catches from 147 Test innings.
Azhar was so prolific as a fielder, that it even overshadowed his batting sometimes. He himself acknowledges that, “I don’t have many fans left. Whenever I go out, people don’t ask me about my batting but always say Azhar sahab aap bahut ache fielder the.(Azhar, you were a really good fielder) But I remind them that I used to bat decently too,”
When one goes through Azhar’s batting numbers, it brings into stark contrast the level of fielding he would have to sustain to let it overshadow his remarkable batting.