Soon England’s cricket team will begin its series of T20 and ODI matches against India. Exactly 40 years ago, when the England cricket team was touring India in 1984-85, a talented young man from Hyderabad demolished their hopes and destroyed their dreams. That skinny youth was an unassuming cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin who became the first Indian player to score three centuries in his first three matches.
Unfortunately the glorious career that Azhar carved out ended in the unsavoury controversy of match fixing. But in the early phase of his career, he was one of the most exciting batsmen in the world.
Why did Azhar succeed?
The English bowlers brought up on a daily diet of county cricket had no idea of the means and methods to contain the stroke play of a batsman who used his strong, supple wrists to hit the ball at different angles. For the same reason, they had been unable to deal with Ranjitsinhji many decades ago and Gundappa Viswanath later. When Azhar was at the crease, the ball was whipped away and run scoring looked easy.
As the Hyderabadi made his debut at the massive Eden Gardens ground, the Kolkata crowd fell in love with his style and panache. Bengali people are great lovers of art and culture. When it comes to sports, they not only want runs and goals to be scored but want these to be done artistically. With his graceful batsmanship, Azhar gave them everything that they desired. It was as if beautiful poetry was being transformed into motion.
A Hyderabadi quality
There is something about Hyderabad that gives its cricketers an elegant style and grace. Azhar personified this quality. With one flick of his wrist, he could send the ball speeding away to the fence leaving the bowler and fielders perplexed.
Back then, Azhar’s simple and innocent nature was endearing to his fans as well as the media. He was once asked which was his favourite shot. In his typically naive style, Azharuddin had replied: “Whichever shot sends the ball to the fence is my favourite shot.”
In the Kolkata Test Azhar and Ravi Shastri scored centuries as India piled up 437 for 7 declared. England was all out for 276 when another Hyderabadi Shivlal Yadav along with Chetan Sharma picked up four wickets each. However, the match finally ended in a draw.
Azhar’s reputation drew spectators
After that the action shifted to the M.A. Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, Azhar’s reputation had already been made and a large crowd turned up to watch this young man in action. The citizens of Chennai appreciate cricket as much as those of Kolkata and they were eager to see what Azhar could do.
Azhar did not disappoint them. Once again he unfolded a breathtaking array of magical shots in India’s second innings. After stalwarts like local hero Kris Srikkanth, Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar had departed cheaply, India was tottering at 22 for three. That was when Azhar and Mohinder Amarnath came together to take India to 212 before Amarnath was out for 95. Azhar continued battling till he was eventually caught by David Gower off Pat Pocock for 105. England won this match by 9 wickets.
His third century
Azhar’s third century came in the fifth and last Test of the series played at Kanpur. Azharuddin was promoted to the number three slot in the batting order and he did not let down the faith of his captain. He slammed 122 with 16 boundaries and in the second innings he scored an unbeaten 54 to emphasize the fact that he was unconquerable. The match ended in a draw.
No comparison
English cricket writer John Woodcock once wrote that it was useless to ask an English batsman to bat like Azharuddin. It would be like asking a greyhound to win The Derby horse race. The two belong to different breeds — English batsmen and Mohammed Azharuddin. That was a very apt way of putting it.
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