My Favorite Cricketer
Mohammad Azharuddin is my favorite cricketer of all time. I have followed Mohammad Azharuddin closely since the early years of his distinguished career. There are quite a few cricketers whom I respect very much, but most of all I liked Azharuddin.
The first thing I would like to write about Mohammad Azharuddin is his dedication to the cause. Mohammad Azharuddin is one of the few Indian cricketers who did not play for a record. Some of the so-called legends always play on their records. Azhar has always put the interests of the team above his own records. He never cared about records and played 99 credits with dignity. He doesn't need his 100th test match under his belt to prove his qualifications. It was sad to see the selfless cricketer's career end abruptly and unceremoniously amid accusations of match-fixing.
In my opinion, Muhammad Azharaddin as a cricketer is a mixture of hard work and genius. He made a brilliant debut in his test career. He captured the imagination and charm of the cricket world when he scored three hundred in a row in his debut match.
Mohammad Azharuddin was the best or one of the best in all areas. He was the best Indian batting batsman in all game formats. In fact, Azharuddin was one of the leading batsmen in the world during the first part of his career. Someone might argue that Sunil Gavaskar was better than Azharuddin. Sunil Gavaskar had a slight lead over Azhar in test cricket, but one day Azhar overtook Sunil Gavaskar in cricket. In the following years, Sachin joined Azhar as the best batsman in the Indian team, and later, as the first player, Sachin became the most productive batsman in the Indian team.
Muhammad Azharaddin was undoubtedly the greatest Indian fielder of his time and arguably the greatest Indian fielder of all time. He was in great shape and rarely missed the ball. His stump kick was flawless and he almost never missed. I distinctly remember how he ran out from under the goal of Salim Malik, threw the ball from the side, when Salim Malik slowed down, going to the gate, making a second pass. Two other cricketers who could match Azhar's skills as a fielder are Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh. These two cricketers are fielders like Azharuddin, but they cannot aim at a tree stump as sharply as Azharuddin. Mohammad Azharuddin was also a deft miss catcher. People consider Rahul Dravid to be the best fielder from the penalty spot. But, I assure you, Dravid did not even come close to Azharuddin in terms of defense, including a miss.
Mohammad Azharuddin is arguably one of the three greatest Indian captains of all time. Lately we have not seen or heard, of course, with the exception of Pataudi, of a captain with Azhar's abilities. It was Azhar's decision to promote Sachin to the first slot and then persist with him as a rookie who saw Sachin score so many hundreds in one day. Before getting into the debut slot, Sachin did not gain a hundred in one day in about 80 games. A couple of his decisions immediately come to mind. The one that made Sachin play one last time in the famous match against South Africa, when India won by a narrow margin, which was considered to be lost, is part of Indian cricket folklore. Probably Dhoni is as good a captain as Azharuddin. I do not put Surav on a par with Azharuddin as captain. Surav was hardly a good captain. The emergence of players like Sehwag and Zahir Khan, combined with the brilliance of some other players under Surav, allowed Surav to succeed as captain. Moreover, Surav has never won a single major one-day trophy. Azhar still has the honor of winning most of India's one-day trophies. Surav, of course, was unable to achieve those talented players that he had in captain.
The only thing I regret about Mohammad Azharuddin is that cricket has changed our hero as a person. One notable change in him is that he did not remain as committed to offering prayers as he did when he played cricket.
The first thing I would like to write about Mohammad Azharuddin is his dedication to the cause. Mohammad Azharuddin is one of the few Indian cricketers who did not play for a record. Some of the so-called legends always play on their records. Azhar has always put the interests of the team above his own records. He never cared about records and played 99 credits with dignity. He doesn't need his 100th test match under his belt to prove his qualifications. It was sad to see the selfless cricketer's career end abruptly and unceremoniously amid accusations of match-fixing.
In my opinion, Muhammad Azharaddin as a cricketer is a mixture of hard work and genius. He made a brilliant debut in his test career. He captured the imagination and charm of the cricket world when he scored three hundred in a row in his debut match.
Mohammad Azharuddin was the best or one of the best in all areas. He was the best Indian batting batsman in all game formats. In fact, Azharuddin was one of the leading batsmen in the world during the first part of his career. Someone might argue that Sunil Gavaskar was better than Azharuddin. Sunil Gavaskar had a slight lead over Azhar in test cricket, but one day Azhar overtook Sunil Gavaskar in cricket. In the following years, Sachin joined Azhar as the best batsman in the Indian team, and later, as the first player, Sachin became the most productive batsman in the Indian team.
Muhammad Azharaddin was undoubtedly the greatest Indian fielder of his time and arguably the greatest Indian fielder of all time. He was in great shape and rarely missed the ball. His stump kick was flawless and he almost never missed. I distinctly remember how he ran out from under the goal of Salim Malik, threw the ball from the side, when Salim Malik slowed down, going to the gate, making a second pass. Two other cricketers who could match Azhar's skills as a fielder are Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh. These two cricketers are fielders like Azharuddin, but they cannot aim at a tree stump as sharply as Azharuddin. Mohammad Azharuddin was also a deft miss catcher. People consider Rahul Dravid to be the best fielder from the penalty spot. But, I assure you, Dravid did not even come close to Azharuddin in terms of defense, including a miss.
Mohammad Azharuddin is arguably one of the three greatest Indian captains of all time. Lately we have not seen or heard, of course, with the exception of Pataudi, of a captain with Azhar's abilities. It was Azhar's decision to promote Sachin to the first slot and then persist with him as a rookie who saw Sachin score so many hundreds in one day. Before getting into the debut slot, Sachin did not gain a hundred in one day in about 80 games. A couple of his decisions immediately come to mind. The one that made Sachin play one last time in the famous match against South Africa, when India won by a narrow margin, which was considered to be lost, is part of Indian cricket folklore. Probably Dhoni is as good a captain as Azharuddin. I do not put Surav on a par with Azharuddin as captain. Surav was hardly a good captain. The emergence of players like Sehwag and Zahir Khan, combined with the brilliance of some other players under Surav, allowed Surav to succeed as captain. Moreover, Surav has never won a single major one-day trophy. Azhar still has the honor of winning most of India's one-day trophies. Surav, of course, was unable to achieve those talented players that he had in captain.
The only thing I regret about Mohammad Azharuddin is that cricket has changed our hero as a person. One notable change in him is that he did not remain as committed to offering prayers as he did when he played cricket.
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