A classic cliche in Indian cinema is the criminal who tries to gain legitimacy by standing for an election and getting elected. Something quite like that but not the same thing is afoot with the former India captain and middle-order batsman Mohammed Azharuddin.
Consigned to the dustbin of cricketing memory by the matchfixing scandal, the gentle, softspoken Hyderabadi was magically thrust on the people of Moradabad by the Congress party, who not only flocked to his election meetings in droves but elected him with a thumping majority.
With the suffix “MP” now after Azhar’s name, a delegation of Congress leaders led by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh who has the ear of Rahul Gandhi, and including BCCI functionary and Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Shukla, have petitioned BCCI president Sharad Pawar to lift the ban on Azhar.
“We want the lifetime ban to go from the man who brought laurels to the country with his skills. There were many players in the match-fixing case but they are all free of the ban. Why should the one on Azhar continue?” Singh is quoted as saying.
Since Azharuddin is too old to make a comeback, the lift-ban plea, according to reports, is designed to remove the taint on the “middle-order miyan” in the Congress’ bid to package him into a “Muslim mascot” in Uttar Pradesh, where the party has big plans.
Question: Should the ban be lifted? Was the ban too harsh to start with, especially with Azhar requiring just one Test to complete 100 in a career? Can politics be used to overturn a cricketing ban? If any crime is pardonable with the passage of time, is anything worth the time?
Tags: BCCI, Churumuri, Congress, Hyderabad, Mohammed Azharuddin, Moradabad, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Shukla, Sans Serif, Sharad Pawar, Uttar Pradesh
22 November 2009 at 2:16 pm
Of course the bloody ban should be lifted! How else can the BCCI managing committee and members of Indian parliament retain their treacherously low standards?
* The Indian parliament is proud host to criminals, conmen and violent thugs who remain protected in the shadow of large family businesses. Why should Azhar NOT benefit the same way as Shibu Soren and some of the other jailbirds of parliament?
* If the congress party wants to show some consistency in it’s track-record of justice since emergency and the sikh riots, it HAS to lift the ban on poor Azhar.
* While they are at it the BCCI should also allow folks to fling currency notes and cheerleaders and leaglizing all match fixing.
22 November 2009 at 3:20 pm
Pardon for what??
Is he really the “ONE” who did match fixing or the convenient scapegoat??
In a team of 11 Players can a single palyer win or lose a game??
When prabhakar did the allegation against “former captain” why did the media imagined azhar and convinced the mango people, when actually he was alluding to Kapil and gavaskar!!
Did crying of Kapil made him acceptable to the masses for his crime and dignified silence of Azhar seems to make him guilty??
What was the role of saint tanda, saurave dravid etc in all the contraversy. Did it really happened? If so are they not aware of it? Did they report if it was going on??
But but….all these are uncomfortable questions….so let it as it is.
Consigned to the dustbin of cricketing memory by the matchfixing scandal,
Sorry never will, as long as game of cricket alive, he will have special place in the hearts of cricket loving fans, not the rowdy types which is now associated.
thrust on the people of Moradabad by the Congress party
if it was people had options to kick him out, what with congress being just a side actor in UP. People do like like and love him for what he is, which say a lot about allegations in the first place.
22 November 2009 at 7:49 pm
NEVER!!
23 November 2009 at 1:56 am
Guys like Kapil got away with it by shedding tears on TV. Guys like Gavaskar most probably never even got caught.
So whats the big deal in banning only Azhar?
23 November 2009 at 6:56 am
Initially when he was exposed his first statement was that as he was from the minority community he was being incriminated falsely!! Now he is an MP and represents our Nation , what a paradox!
23 November 2009 at 7:59 am
I wonder what laurels Azharuddin brought to India. We never won the world cup under his captaincy. There were quite a few victories but nothing spectacular. Now he’s become a MP. And as it is mentioned, he is too old to play whats the point on removing his ban. It wont remove the taint of match fixing from him.
23 November 2009 at 9:42 am
Look at it this way:
1. The party in power in Congress;
2. The player in question is a Congress MP;
3. To boot it, his a musalman;
4. And on top of it, the Congress wants to make him a musalman mascot.
Any one of the above would have ensured the pardon to the tainted player. When all the 4 are coming together, it is only a matter of time that this joker is reinstated with all his pride intact. This can happen only in the Congress ruled India!!
Sadly, none of the television channels, none of the newspapers are treating this as a big news. But then why will they do it? The have got all the fodder to chew by the statements of Bal Thackrey in the matter of Sachin T. Bashing an old Hindu patriarch is much more fun than picking holes in the theory of the party in power AND on a muslim. More so when the party in power has done favours to the journos by honouring them with Padma Sris!!!! Who knows? A tacit support in all these activities might even earn the channel and news heads a Padma Bhushana or Padma Vibhushana in the days to come.
23 November 2009 at 1:11 pm
Congress is playing politics. Anyway Azhar was made a scapegoat for a scam which had many players in it.
23 November 2009 at 1:54 pm
a) I don’t know whether the allegations of match-fixing were probed thoroughly and the players who did fix the matches were identified. Assuming that probes were carried out and Azhar was found guilty, the ban is justified. To argue that others haven’t been caught so why punish only Azhar is unjustifiable. In that case, no justice will ever be done till all the culprits are punished. We should really take it case-by-case.
b) Khan
None of the questions you ask are uncomfortable. If tendulkar, dravid, saurav, kapil, gavaskar are found guilty they should also be banned.
c) Congress is trying to play the victimization politics again. And if past is any indication, they will succeed.
d) There is simply no transparency in anything. Investigations are a joke here. Probe committee findings are for playing politics.
23 November 2009 at 2:23 pm
Next stop Bharat Ratna for Md. Azharuddin
23 November 2009 at 3:16 pm
@ Khan & Anon Guy…
Pretty standard responses from crooks who get caught… he has done it and his uncle has done it. They are not caught, why me???
Well, the answer would be because you have erred and got caught. Had someone else and his uncle too got caught, they too would have been punished. Better, if you have proof that others were also involved, you can give it the concerned authorities and get them too banned.
The only place for Azharuddin and his ilk is in the dustbins of the cricket history. No other place seems to be good for people like him.
23 November 2009 at 3:54 pm
Khan sab- as you say, it is very true that Azar was one of the 11 players, how can he be the only accused? True all the cricket players are involved, one cannot escape by crying! It is a real paradox that Kasb sab is a Musalman!!
23 November 2009 at 4:03 pm
Azhar got caught?? By who? and you seen the evidence? provided by??
The reams of evideance proveded by Prabhakar against Kapil and gavasker were brushed aside and the unseen and assumed guilt of azhar accepted!!
What a democracy, where majority opinion only counts.
23 November 2009 at 5:07 pm
@ Khan,
Let us for one moment consider Azharuddin to be holier than thou…
If that were to be the case, dont you think this joker would have appointed the best of the best lawyers and fought his case? Dont you think the secular media of this country would have stood shoulder to shoulder to this wronged soul in his moment of crisis and fought alongside him till he finds justice????
Dont be in a denial mode. Bringing other people to justice is one thing. Saying that others were allowed to go scot free and therefore allow this joker too is fraud.
23 November 2009 at 6:38 pm
This is India.Tommorow dawood,abusaleem,chotashakel will contest in elections and will become mps and mlas,politicians intellecutuals human rights commisoion even media will be there for their support. One thing is that you should be a musalman or isaaye and should say “I am minority, and I am targeted in this hindu dominated country”.once azhar has said this satement and appolozied. first polticians should not do vote bank politics then every problem bohtering our country will disapperar
23 November 2009 at 8:57 pm
What other can you expect from UPA govt headed by our honourable PM? Bailing out the criminals by appointing them as ministers to wash away their sins is the game that is being played to perfection
23 November 2009 at 10:20 pm
The onboard closet Jihadi has as expectedl resorted to chest thumping to save his Zaat Bhai…Bravo
It is always the hindoos in India and Joooos every where else who are out to destroy the peace loving people
23 November 2009 at 11:48 pm
Khan saab said ‘What a democracy, where majority opinion only counts.’
why do you forget tht the same majority elected azza bhai as their MP?
24 November 2009 at 1:34 am
I meant the other way around – ban Kapil and the others who were involved too. Just banning one guy looks stupid. And it does not make much difference to the whole practice of passing off fixed matches as the real thing.
If the BCCI folks found one scapegoat – then the question does arise why Azhar? I would guess it was because he was the greediest of the lot or the least powerful of those who were indulging in wholesale match-fixing.
Now that he has the necessary power, he is trying to undo things for himself with the hope that dher aaye par duurst aaye. Azhar has got away with it just like the others, and eventually he will undo the record books too.
And there is nothing much you cheddi posters can do about it too other than tangling with Khan poster. Cheddi and taliban, made for each other…
24 November 2009 at 2:47 am
This have become a norm in our democracy – tainted business men,criminals,underworld dons,sportsmen,filmstars enter politics and secure MP/MLA seats to legitimatize their assets,clear their names and make themselves above the law. These individuals are welcome in all political parties its only us who end up blaming each other and chest thumping. As for Azhar he has cleared the elections now the road is wide open for him and get back to cricketing circles where these days money is raining cats and dogs!
24 November 2009 at 4:21 am
>>>One thing is that you should be a musalman or isaaye and should say “I am minority, and I am targeted in this hindu dominated country”
OR
You be a “hindu” and kill hundreds and thousands innocents people in the name of “spontaneous reaction”, “when a big tree falls”, “majority sentiments” etc etc and be considered as strong leader.
But am amazed no one came forward to accept kapil and gavasker being pioneer of match fixing or atleast defend their innocence. This says a lot of the cheddis here. They know that not only kapil and gavaskar but the current lot of tenda, saurave, dravid were also involved at some point.
But hey, as long as committees decide who is guilty and who is not… then everything is ok.–right? even if they pronounce azhar tomorrow to be angel!!
24 November 2009 at 10:33 am
As long as there is credible evidence to prove he is involved, to argue someone else got away so he should be let go is stupidity. We may not catch all the crooks but at times it is essential to prosecute a high-flyer to grab the attention and send a signal — Martha Stewart anyone ?
Whether there were others involved or not is the point. If Azhar was/is innocent, as a senior player, why did not blow the whistle or try and stop the crime ?
Given the above and what appears to be Azhar’s culpability, he should NOT be pardoned. It will be a mockery of justice.
24 November 2009 at 1:59 pm
@Kavithamma
>>The onboard closet Jihadi has as expectedl resorted to chest thumping to save his Zaat Bhai…Bravo
closet? chest thumping?? yellama you are clueless damsel. Nor am glorifying azhar nor condeming him. It is clueless damsel like you who is doing, am mere asking some questions, but your sensibilities do not want to hear.
Zaat bhai…do you know even the meaning of zaat. Literal translation being caste…. which you should have figured if even a slight pint sized.. never mind. You are an addition to cheddi brigade here, though khaki color may not suit you.
24 November 2009 at 2:36 pm
@Khan,
Do you know, Ajay Jadeja and Ajay Sharma were also banned along with Azahar for match fixing charges. Why all the sicular are talking about azahar only..?
24 November 2009 at 2:41 pm
@Madho and others
Isn’t it tiresome that you guys repeating azhar got caught, whereas others like kapil, gavaskar, tenda being smart didn’t, so an example should be made. But the point is, did Azhar got caught IN THE ACT?? IIRC he wasn’t, it was through an inquiry that he was pronounced guilty. Did the inquiry terms of reference was just azhar or it involved the whole matchfixing mafia??
If it was the latter surely, match fixing in cricket can not be pulled by an individual, it needs a team effort, don’t you think?? Of course I assume you guys follow cricket and know a little.
So where we were? an inquiry committee. Surely for an inquiry committee source of evidence is circumstantial only. So the question is why does this committee pronounced only Azhar guilty?? What exact evidence was it based on, can anyone so sure cocky poster share here. Why was prabhakars evidence against kapil and gavaskar deemed not worthy?? Then on what evidence AZHAR pronounced guilty. Is that suppose to mean that all others who played are innocent??
Curiously why tenda was never offered captaincy after this saga is puzzling.
24 November 2009 at 5:40 pm
bb@by
I do know all that, but why are you guys shying away from gavaskar and tendulkar?? and why the selective inquiry only??
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Tuesday ruled out initiating an inquiry against former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar following remarks by Mohammad Azharuddin that the two were not “investigated properly”.
BCCI president A C Muthiah said since there is no mention of Azharuddin’s remarks in the CBI report, and no official complaint has been made to the BCCI against Gavaskar and Tendulkar, there is no reason to hold an inquiry.
Do they need “official complaint to investigate?? Wonder who asked “official” complaint againt Azhar?
“Not at the moment. There is nothing at the moment. It is not in the CBI report. There were no complaints officially made to us. I don’t think we will make such an inquiry now,” he said.
Azharuddin had in a recent interview to Outlook magazine said cricketers from Bombay have been able to get away with wrongdoing without being ‘investigated properly’.
“Nobody talks of the Rs 70 lakh in cash found in Gavaskar’s gymkhana locker,” Azharuddin had said.
http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2001/jan/30bcci1.htm
25 November 2009 at 12:29 pm
Here is nitty gritty of the Azhar got caught in –politics of BCCI
AC Muttaiah, the then president, who opposed azhar as a captain appointed Madhavan as investigator. This madhavan was his counsel for the SPIC fraud case representing muttaiah.
Tendulakar and Match fixing
The vigilance Commissioner of Indian Cricket Board K Madhavan has questioned Sachin Tendulkar in connection with the controversial Ahmedabad Test match in 1999 when India did not enforce follow-on against New Zealand despite being in a position to do so
Madhavan, a former Joint Director of CBI, had already examined Ajit Wadekar (the then manager of the team) and Kapil Dev (the then coach of the team), the sources said.
Kapil and ajitwadekar
Who offered you Rs 25 lakh to underachieve against Pakistan in the Singer Cup?
The name I am going to take is not a small name. But if I don’t take it now it will be too late. I know, he knows and God knows. It is Kapil Dev
Was Wadekar surprised at what you told him?
I was surprised that he was not surprised. And I realised. I do not know what happened or what they did afterwards, but they only denied that I went to them.
What did Azhar say?
Azhar asked me did you tell ‘Sir’ (Sir ko bataya kya). I told him that I had.
Asked about Kapil Dev’s emotional interview on BBC in which he denied making any such offer, Prabhakar said, “Koi tab rota hai jab jhoot bolta hai’
http://www.rediff.com/sports/2000/may/25manoj.htm
Gavaskar and Shastri
This aspect wasn’t investigated by the authorities at all. Nobody talks of the Rs 70 lakh cash found in different currencies in Sunil Gavaskar’s Gymkhana locker. What about Ravi Shastri’s Ali Baug farmhouse and other costly properties?
http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?210723
When we were in Sri Lanka in 1994. A person came to me at a party, someone very senior in the Indian cricket team, and said it in a very roundabout way, as if he was joking with me. I replied: ‘Sir, those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others.’ Sitting next to me was one of India’s finest and most honest cricketers. He said: ‘But some of them live in bullet proof glass houses!’ Guess who???
http://www.rediff.com/sports/1998/dec/24a.htm
26 November 2009 at 1:45 am
Khan,
Honestly I’m not going thru the 100 responses you have in here. Long story short,CBI et al, there’s enough to cast a big shadow on Azhar and he deserves the ban. Anyone else involved should be brought to justice. In the unfortunate event that that does not happen, to argue Azhar should go scot-free is moot. Kapish ? :-)
26 November 2009 at 12:42 pm
@Khan, why shoud BCCI takes liar and match-fixer like Azahar words seriously on fixing charges on sachin n gavaskar.
26 November 2009 at 5:06 pm
@Madhu
DID i SAY AZHAR SHOULD GO SCOT FREE??
Did azhar said he is innocent?
The point is selective persecution,which becomes even more ridicules when known offenders like GAVASAR, KAPIL, TENDULKAR AD SHASTRI are dayin day out passed national heroes.
@baby
No, but whose words BCCI took,rather the counsel of a president who was fraudster in SPIC scam, the bookies!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a bunch of hypocrites you guys are?? Same on you.
2 December 2009 at 3:25 pm
Khan,
Ask ur azhar to join saudi arabia team, where he will not face any ban.
5 December 2009 at 2:53 pm
>>Ask ur azhar
My azhar, wasn’t he represented India???
So, Gavaskar, kapil, tedulkar, shastri are your matchfixers!!!
Strange, now sport person are to be identified by their religion only.