I Really Don't Know The Reasons For Banning Me: Mohammad Azharuddin

Mohammad Azharuddin might have been cleared of all the match-fixing charges but the former India captain has said he still does not know the reasons for his ban. In December 2000, he was handed a life ban by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for his involvement in the infamous match-fixing scandal that rocked the entire cricket world.

Mohammad Azharuddin had, reportedly, confessed to fixing matches in November that year before the BCCI decided to ban him for life. His playing career ended with that decision but he decided to fight the ban and eventually won it in 2012 when the Andhra Pradesh High Court revoked the life ban and termed it “illegal”.

The former cricketer is now an eminent figure in Indian cricket once again. In September last year, he was elected as the president of Hyderabad Cricket Association and also had a stand named after him at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

But while his life is back on track, Mohammad Azharuddin is seemingly struggling to move over the fixing scandal. Reminded of one of the darkest phases of his life during an interview with cricketpakistan.com website, he 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.

Before being banned, he played 99 Tests and scored 6,125 runs at an average of 45. He also played 334 ODIs, scoring 9378 runs at 36.92 during a 15-year international career that had begun with three successive centuries. He further said he has no regrets over missing out on completing a century of matches.

“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.

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