Mohammad Azharuddin Net Worth, Age, Family, Career, Education & More
Over the years, Indian cricket has produced several successful players who have simply wowed everyone with their beautiful batting skills and game-changing heroics on the cricket field.
Mohammed Azharuddin, also known as " Azhar," is a former Indian cricket captain who has made a lasting imprint on every Indian cricket fan's mind with his incredible wrist movement and outstanding batting throughout his career.
Despite the fact that this fantastic cricketer from Hyderabad has been involved in a number of problems and was even banned from cricket due to major match-fixing claims, he has endured it all while becoming an effective cricket administrator after retiring from international cricket.
Mohammad Azharuddin Early life
Azhar was born in Hyderabad on February 8, 1963, to Mohammed Azizuddin and Yousuf Sultana, and attended All Saints High School before graduating from Nizam College, Osmania University. It should be mentioned that well-known cricketers such as Venkatapathy Raju and Noel David both graduated from the same institution.
Mohammad Azharuddin Initial Struggles
We can surely state that there aren't many cricketers who have experienced the same difficulties as Azhar had as a child.S until he has conquered every obstacle in his upbringing, from financial restraints to familial concerns, in order to pursue his aspirations of playing cricket.
Within a few years of entering the world of cricket, he became well-known as a wrist player with some of the most exquisite shots in his cricket book. Azhar made his first-class debut for the Hyderabad team in 1981, and after capturing the attention of Indian selectors for the England tour, he scored some good runs.
Mohammad Azharuddin Debut
Azhar made his international debut against England in Kolkata in 1984, but no one could have predicted that this young man would hit three hundred in his first three international matches. Only against the English squad did he have a prolific batting performance, scoring 121 runs off 88 balls.
That was the same game in which English captain Graham Gooch thrashed the Indian bowling en route to 333 runs and forced India to follow. That's when Azhar came in at number five and delivered a stunning inning that was lauded by even the most eminent English pundits.
Mohammad Azharuddin as Captain
While Azhar was selected as the Indian team's captain in 1989, replacing Kriss Srikanth, he went on to perform admirably for the Indian team. Furthermore, while South Africa was touring India in 1996, Azhar hit a brilliant century off just 74 balls against a great South African attack, setting a new record for the fastest century by an Indian player in test cricket.
During the same match, he shared a 161-run partnership with another Indian player, Anil Kumble, which set a new world record.
He scored 20 runs in a single over bowled by South African Lance Klusener during this match. He scored his 15th century in this match, but despite his heroics, India lost by a large margin. Azhar, on the other hand, did not give up and continued his good run with the bat in the fourth Test as well, where he achieved his highest test score of 163 runs and led India to its biggest win in terms of runs (280) in international cricket. Azhar hit 388 runs in the same series and was named both man of the match and man of the series for his outstanding performance.
Azhar was a great fielder who usually guarded the cover region during his career, in addition to being a productive hitter on the pitch. Many cricketers of the time have stated that while the Indian squad is not "fantastic" in terms of fielding skills, Azhar was always an exception.
Mohammad Azharuddin Final Match
While Azhar was doing well with his batting and captaincy for Team India, the match-fixing scandal jolted Indian cricket. After captaining the team for 47 tests until the year 2000, he was given a life ban by the BCCI for his alleged role in the match-fixing scandal.
By that time, Azhar had scored over 16000 international runs in both the test and ODI formats, bringing immense glory to the Indian side in the process.
Although the ban was declared unconstitutional by an Andhra Pradesh court in 2012, he was acquitted of all charges. Even when the ban was lifted, he was unable to play any more cricket due to his increasing age and was forced to retire from international cricket.
By that point, Azhar had led the Indian team to three world cups as captain, which is still a record in international cricket.
Mohammad Azharuddin Biography – Getting into the Politics
Azhar joined the Indian National Congress in 2009 after being persuaded to withdraw from international cricket due to his cricket ban. Furthermore, his career in the same area began with a bang when he was elected as an MP for the Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh the same year.
He is now the president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and is likely to run in the 2019 general elections from the same region.
Azhar's Awards, Records, and Achievements
Azhar received the prestigious Arjuna and Padma Shri awards in 1986 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cricket.
He was selected one of the five "Wisden International Cricketers of the Year" in 1991.
Azhar was the only player in international cricket history to score three consecutive century in his first three test matches.
Along with Kapil Dev, he set the record for fastest century by an Indian player at 74 balls.
He is the only Indian captain to have led the side to three successive World Cups. He holds the fastest ODI century by an Indian player (62 balls) against New Zealand.
Azhar's Life Controversies: The Infamous Match Fixing Saga
The greatest and worst controversy of Azhar's career was match-fixing, which began when Delhi police claimed they had a phone tap on a discussion between South African captain Hansie Cronje and bookie Sanjay Chawla.
The same phone tapping revealed the involvement of additional South African players Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje, and Peter Strydom.
A few days later, both Hansie Cronje and the South African board disputed the claims, but Cronje eventually acknowledged to taking $100,000 from bookies in order to offer some key information during India's visit to South Africa in 2000.
Later, Hansie Cronje admitted that Azharuddin introduced him to a bookie, and it was from there that the fixing saga began. Although Azhar disputed the claims, the CBI launched a series of investigations and indicated in one of his reports that Azhar had admitted his involvement in the match-fixing scandal.
Furthermore, it has been said that Azhar did this alongside his teammates Nayan Mongia, Ajay Jadeja, and Nikhil Chopra.
On December 5, 2000, he received a lifelong ban from the BCCI, while the other players received temporary bans. Even though the Andhra Pradesh high court removed the ban due to a lack of evidence, Azhar was too elderly to make a comeback and thus began his political career.
Mohammad Azharuddin's net worth is expected to be Rs 28 crores ($ 4 million) in 2021, with brand endorsements and cricket being his primary sources of income.