While everyone is talking about Sachin deserving his first World Cup win, there's one man ufffd Mohammed Azharuddin ufffd who doesn't want to talk about the batting maestro at all. Read on...
While everyone is talking about Sachin deserving his first World Cup win, there's one man ufffd Mohammed Azharuddin ufffd who doesn't want to talk about the batting maestro at all. Read on...
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The last time a cricket World Cup was played in the Indian sub-continent, Mohammed Azharuddin was the man in the frontline. As captain of India in 1996, he had the responsibility of emulating Kapil Dev's 1983 Cup-winning feat.
Today, the 48-year-old Azharuddin is a politician. And as GQ India magazine discovered in the below interview, detached from the game.u00a0
Excerpts:
A number of your retired colleagues, like Gavaskar, Shastri and others, have taken to commentating. And they are raking it in. Didn't want to try that?
For me, to have played cricket and then to sit for six hours and comment would have been a tough job. I did get offers, but they were not very lucrative. Also, people jump from one channel to another, and I didn't want to do that.
If I had got a five-yearu00a0 contract from one channel then maybe I could have done it. In fact, I hardly watch much cricket now.
Sounds like you've lost passion for the game.
I am quite passionate about the game. But I have chosen a different life now. I can't get stuck in the same time. One has to move on in life.
Don't you like to see your ex-colleagues Tendulkar and Dravid batting?
I like to see Laxman. Whenever I get a chance, I watch him play. He is a very positive player. I like the way he plays.
Who are your buddies from the team? Who do you stay in touch with?
I am not in touch with anybody. I have a different life now.
That's strange. Having played together for so many years, you'd expect to become pals.
Cricket is different. You move on, and people get busy, and I don't like to disturb anybody. If I call and someone doesn't pick up the phone ufffd I don't want those things to happen. So I am very careful, very guarded. The only cricketer I met after I stopped playing was Kapil paaji. I like the way he respects people. He and Raj Singh Dungarpur were the only people who supported me when I had that problem (the match-fixing scandal).
But no one else from the team supported you?
I don't know. I have no complaints.
One big blunder you made as a captain that you regret?
People say that in the Calcutta semi-finals (World Cup 1996), we should have batted after winning the toss. It was team decision, so I can't say I made the mistake. But at the end of the day, as captain I felt I made a mistake. As a captain you are always on the hit list. (smiles)
Why didn't Tendulkar succeed as a captain? You were in the same team, so you should know.
I don't want to talk about him. There are some people I just don't want to talk about.
There was a report you weren't supporting him...
Not true. Check the statistics. When he was captain, I scored more runs than anyone else on the team, in both forms of the game.u00a0So the allegation is false.
Maybe he didn't have it in him to be a captain?
No, he didn't have it in him. That's what I feel.
Were you involved with match-fixing?
It's not proven. Everyone knows what happened.
But you did admit to fixing a few matches to the CBI...
Then why didn't they charge-sheet me? The CBI itself said they could not proceed against the players as they didn't have the evidence.
The case is going on. Once that's over, everybody will know what is right and what is wrong. My name will be cleared.
Are you and Sangeeta still together?
No comments.
Courtesy: GQ India
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