Former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has said he still does not know the reason behind him getting a life ban from the BCCI in 2000 which was later overturned by the court. Mohammad Azharuddin was banned for life in December 2000 after the BCCI had found him guilty in the infamous match-fixing scandal.
Mohammad Azharuddin had, reportedly, confessed to fixing matches in November that year before the BCCI decided to ban him for life. But after the ban, he decided to contest BCCI’s verdict and eventually won the legal fight in 2012 when the Andhra Pradesh High Court revoked the life ban and termed it “illegal”.
Mohammad Azharuddin has come a long way since then. Last year in September, he was elected as the president of Hyderabad Cricket Association. He had a stand named after him at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. In November, he rung the bell at the Eden Gardens ahead of the historic day-night Test against Bangladesh and was also included in a group of former cricketers honoured with a lap around the iconic ground.
But while he has now been fully integrated with the game, Mohammad Azharuddin still does not know the reason behind him getting the life ban at the first place. Speaking to cricketpakistan.com website, Mohammad Azharuddin said: “I don’t want to blame anyone for what happened. I really don’t know the reasons for banning me…”
“…But I had decided to fight it and I am grateful that after 12 years I got cleared. I felt very satisfied when after being elected president of Hyderabad association I went and attended the BCCI AGM meeting,” he added.
No regrets:
Mohammad Azharuddin’s career finished at 99 Tests during which he scored 6125 runs at an average of 45. He also played 334 ODIs, scoring 9378 runs at 36.92 in an illustrious career that spanned well over a decade. One more Test would have seen him join the special 100-Test club but the batting great has said he has no regrets over it.
“I am a firm believer in fate and whatever is in your destiny it happens. I look at this way that nowadays if a player is a class act he ends up playing more than 100 Tests. So I don’t think this record of 99 Test matches that I hold is going to be broken,” Mohammad Azharuddin said.
“I played for around 16 to 17 years and I captained for around 10 years. What more can I ask for,” he added.