Mohammad Azharuddin pledges to 'revive' cricket in Hyderabad:EXCLUSIVE

From being one of most successful Indian captains -  to having served 'ban for life' on match-fixing allegations to redemption as Hyderabad Cricket Association president - life has come to a full circle for Mohammad Azharuddin as far as cricket is concerned.

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Azharuddin elected as HCA President

"Never thought in my life I will be president of Hyderabad Cricket Association one day. But here I am. Yes, I am very happy for opportunity given to me. w, its time for me to get my acts toger and work towards restructuring and resurrecting administration and cricket in Hyderabad," Azhar told Republic TV on a telephonic interview from Hyderabad after assuming office of HCA president.

Azhar, who was stopped from attending SGM in 2017, has come back with a thumping 74 votes victory leading his team into a one-sided contest as all six members of his team were elected with a landslide victory. "I fought on issues plaguing Hyderabad cricket. We had a great campaign and having fought Lok Sabha election twice I knew I was winning. w its time to fulfil promises. administration and cricket reportedly faced several challenges in  last 3-4 years. I will work for revival of cricket in  Hyderabad, a city which has produced fabulous and great cricketers over years. I want to work for m," Azhar said." infighting between various groups must stop and only focus should be on cricket and its development. I pledge to work in that direction," he added.

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Miles to go and promises to keep

“I will restructure everything and turn things around. I kw it won’t be easy but I will give my best to revive game which has suffered a lot in last three years. I will seek support from all club secretaries and take game forward.  We need to get to grassroots and unearth talent w,” Azhar said.

“I am really looking forward to BCCI meetings because I have so much to offer, having played game for quite a while. I have represented BCCI on teams but w to deal with Board as an administrator will be different — this should be much easier than playing", he added. 

Azhar refused to shed light on past and his difficult times and said he was er for a fresh start and only cricket was on his mind. In January 2017, Azhar was disqualified from contesting for President after his mination papers were t accepted by election officers as y were uncertain wher life ban imposed on him by BCCI for match-fixing, still remained. HCA’s ad-hoc committee Chairman Prakash Chand Jain had sought clarification regarding Azhar’s eligibility but thing concrete had come from national cricket board.

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