Mohammad Azharuddin

Azharuddin was born on 8 February 1963. He was born in Hyderabad to Mohammad Azizuddin and Yousuf Sultana. He attended All Saints High School and graduated from Nizam College, Osmania University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.[6] Azharuddin married his first wife Naureen in 1987 and they had two sons, Asaduddin and Ayazuddin. Ayazuddin died in a bike accident in 2011.[7] After 9 years of marriage to Naureen, Azharuddin confessed of his relationship with actress Sangita Bijlani whom he said he fell in love with at first sight during an ad shoot in 1985. Subsequently, Azharuddin divorced Naureen and married Bijlani in 1996. They were married for fourteen years before they separated due to Azharuddin's rumoured affairs with multiple people, notably female badminton player Jwala Gutta. Azharuddin then married Shannon Marie privately. He subsequently revealed his marriage to the public.[8][9]

Azharuddin was known for his wristy strokeplay, much like Indian cricketer Gundappa Viswanath and Pakistani cricketer Zaheer Abbas. He made his debut for the Indian cricket team in Test cricket in 1984 against England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 31 December 1984, where he scored 110 in his first innings from 322 deliveries, alongside Ravi Shastri who scored 111, in what was ultimately a drawn match. He subsequently scored two more centuries in his next two Test matches. He scored 121 against England at Lord's in 1990. India was faced with the prospect of a follow-on when Azharuddin came in to bat at number five and scored his hundred off 88 balls in a losing cause. Former England cricketer Vic Marks called it "the most dazzling Test century" he had ever witnessed, in his column for The Observer.[10] In the Second Test in Manchester, Azharuddin made 179 in reply to England's first innings total of 519. Playing attacking cricket, he made 103 runs off 107 balls between lunch and tea on day three, while putting on a 112-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar. Playing his 39th Test, he reached his 10th Test century off 155 balls.[11] The match ended in a draw.[12] Azharuddin ended the series with 426 runs at 85.20.[13] This tally was the highest by an Asian captain in a Test series in England until 2018 when it was broken by Virat Kohli.[14]

Azharuddin scored a record-equalling century for an Indian player in the Second Test at Calcutta during South Africa's India tour in 1996–97. In reply to South Africa's first innings score of 428, Azharuddin brought up his century off 74 deliveries, equalling Kapil Dev's record for the fastest Test century by an India player and fourth overall, in terms of balls faced.[15][16] Resuming batting on day three on the fall of Javagal Srinath's wicket after retiring hurt the previous evening, Azharuddin reached 50 in 35 balls, then the second fastest for India and scored 91 runs in the first session of play. He struck a 161-run partnership with Anil Kumble for the eighth wicket, another India national record, "hooking and pulling" while dealing with his "weakness against the short-pitched delivery". He particularly attacked Lance Klusener scoring 20 runs off his 14th over. It was his fourth century at this venue and 15th overall.[16][15] However, India was handed one of its biggest defeats despite another attacking innings by Azharuddin in the fourth innings.[17] Azharuddin followed this up with a second-innings century in the next Test, also the last, of the series. He made an unbeaten 163 and helped his team record their hitherto biggest win in Test history in terms of runs (280).[18] He was named the man of the match, and the series.[19] He aggregated 388 runs for the series at 77.60.[20]

Predominantly a middle order batsman, Azharuddin was known for his attacking brand of cricket and strong slip catching, though continuously struggled against the short ball. Azharuddin played 99 test matches for India and scored 6,215 runs at an average of 45.03, including 22 centuries and 21 half-centuries. His record in One Day Internationals (ODIs) was 9,378 runs from 334 matches at an average of 36.92. As a fielder, he took 156 catches in ODI cricket. Azharuddin started his career with a 110 against England in Kolkata in 1984 and ended with a 102 against South Africa in Banglaore in 2000 thus, becoming the only Indian and the fifth batsman ever to score a century in his first and last Test matches.

Azharuddin was convicted of match fixing in 2000, and banned for life by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). During India's 2000 tour of South Africa, a series that was won by India 3–2, Azharuddin scored 112 runs at an average of 28.[21] Other key Indian cricketers whom Azharuddin groomed and also brought into the match-fixing fold displayed similarly dismal performances.

Azharuddin formally joined the Indian National Congress party on 19 February 2009. He won the 2009 Indian general election from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh to become a member of parliament of India.[33][34] Azharuddin had disclosed his intention to contest the 2019 elections from Secunderabad Parliamentary constituency in 2019.[35]

He is currently holding the position of working president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.[36][37][38]

Azharuddin was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1986 and the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in recognition of his distinguished contribution in the field of sports, in 1988.[39] He was named one of five Wisden's Cricketers of the Year for the year 1991.[40]

Azharuddin married Naureen in 1987. In 1996, he divorced her and married actress Sangeeta Bijlani.[23] The marriage reportedly ended in a divorce in 2010 due to Azharuddin's affair with badminton player Jwala Gutta.[41][42]

He had two sons with his first wife; his younger son, Mohammad Ayazuddin, died in a road accident in 2011. The young cricketer was monitored in an intensive care unit with severe and multiple injuries in kidneys, chest and head.[43] Many VIPs, including the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and other politicians arrived at the hospital to console Azharuddin and his family members.[44] His elder son, Mohammad Asaduddin, married Anam Mirza, the sister of Sania Mirza, in 2019.[45][46]

A Bollywood film Azhar, directed by Tony D'Souza, was based on his life. The film featured Emraan Hashmi as Azharuddin, Nargis Fakhri as Sangeeta Bijlani and Prachi Desai as first wife Naureen. It was released on 13 May 2016.[47] The film was criticized for whitewashing[48] his complicity in the match-fixing scandal.

A Netflix film called Caught Out: Crime. Corruption. Cricket. was officially released on March 17, 2023, in India, and depicted the investigations and allegations of match fixing against numerous former Indian cricketers, including Mohammad Azharuddin.

• List of international cricket centuries by Mohammad Azharuddin

• Mohammad Azharuddin at ESPNcricinfo