Latest update November 23rd, 2024 1:00 AM
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Successful political debut for ex Indian Test Captain
Mohammad Azharuddin, the 46-year-old former Indian cricket captain, has become a Member of Parliament in India after winning on a Congress ticket.
Mohammad Azharuddin
“As we started chatting in the next room, away from those who had assembled to help chart out his campaign, it was clear that Azharuddin was seeking more than an election to the lower house of Parliament” said The Indian Express’ Kunal Pradham who met Azharuddin during his campaign in Moradabad in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Many feel it was the last attempt at redemption for the former cricketer who scored 22 centuries in 99 Tests and 7 from 334-ODIs between 1984 and 2000; finally putting the match-fixing nightmare behind him by seeking acceptance from the people he had once wowed with his finesse at the crease.
As captain, Azhar enjoyed tremendous success while right to the end of his career he was peerless in the field. He announced his arrival, against England in 1984-85, with three hundreds in his first three Tests, a feat that has never been matched, while his last Test innings also bore him a hundred.
But allegations of match-fixing provided an emphatic full stop. That he finished his career with 99 Tests is perhaps appropriate for one who came within a whisker of batting immortality – only to throw it all away by being banned. He appealed against the life ban in the courts but the verdict is still awaited. He made his foray into politics by joining the Congress party this year.
Roy Fredericks
Azar joins former Pakistan Captain Imran Khan as Test cricketers who have entered politics after their playing days.
Former Guyana and West Indies opener Roy Fredericks, who died due to cancer at age 57 in 2000, also served as a Sports Minister in the Forbes Burnham’s Government in the 1980s. Fredericks, who had announced his retirement for Guyana, batted twice in the 1983 West Indies first-class tournament, and scored 103 against Trinidad & Tobago and 217 against Jamaica.
It was an astonishing way to finish as he became the first and only person to score a First-Class double century while at the same time serving as a Minister of Government.
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