India captain Mohammad Azharuddin hits out at Hyderabad Cricket Association, says his fundamental rights have been ‘abused’

HYDERABAD: A day after he was made to wait for an hour before entering the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s special general meeting, former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin lashed out at the officials of the association. “I am a former captain of Indian cricket team  and I was made to wait outside for more than an hour,” Azhar told Express on Monday. “I have an email from the BCCI stating that I am eligible to contest elections. I was not allowed to do that (last year). My fundamental rights have been abused.”

Azhar was not happy with the way the High Court-appointed HCA administrators (CoA) — who were brought in to oversee reforms — are functioning right now, and questioned their role. “Why is the CoA not doing anything? These office-bearers are flouting all the Lodha guidelines. I simply do not understand why the CoA is not acting,” he said.Azhar was initially made to wait outside the building for an hour before former spinner Shivlal Yadav intervened and secured him entry.  

HCA president G Vivekanand said that Azhar, and a few others, were  not allowed to enter because they were carrying invalid identity cards issued by suspended secretary T Sheshnarayan. “There were 6-7 people who were originally not allowed. Then I issued them the necessary cards myself and they came in. Azhar had come as a proxy, which cannot be encouraged,”  said Vivekanand. The HCA president also emphasised that Azhar is not a member of the state body even as the latter  disputed the claim.  

“I captained India for a decade,” Azhar said. “According to the Lodha guidelines, a Test cricketer becomes a de-facto member of state association. And how would I know the secretary had been suspended just two days after handing out the card?”Sunday’s incident comes almost a year after Azhar’s nomination for the post of HCA president was rejected reportedly citing his BCCI ban. The AP High Court had quashed the ban the BCCI had imposed in the wake of the match-fixing allegations against Azhar.