Former Indian cricket team captain Mohammed Azharuddin has said he will move the Telangana High Court to challenge the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s (HCA) decision to remove his name from a stand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
The HCA Ombudsman had recently passed an order to remove Azharuddin’s name from the North Stand of the stadium.
Justice (Retd) V Eswaraiah, who also acts as the ethics officer of HCA, based his decision on a petitition filed by the Lords Cricket club, a member unit of the cricket association. The petition said that Azharuddin misused his position as then HCA President by taking arbitrary decisions.
What did Mohammed Azharuddin say?
According to a report by news agency PTI, Azharuddin said he will seek to a legal recourse.
“I will definitely take legal recourse and will be appealing to the High Court to stay this order. It is a shame that an India captain’s name is being asked to be removed,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
The former India captain also questioned the validity of the order, alleging that the Ombudsman’s tenure had already ended.
“As per by-laws of the association, the Ombudsman/Ethics Officer’s tenure is for one year. In this case, the Ombudsman’s tenure had ended on February 18, 2025 and any order passed after that period is null and void. He hasn’t got extension, which can only be given during the AGM which hasn’t happened. So how did he pass an order,” he asked.
‘Crooks pointing fingers at me’
Azharuddin alleged that he is being targetted because a few HCA officials couldn’t indulge in corrupt practices during his tenure as president, after the opposition faction accused alleged that people related to him were involved in selection scandals in age-group teams.
“Crooks, who have never held a bat in their hands are pointing fingers at me. If they want to remove my name from the stand, the man who played 433 games for India, then you might as well take down Shivlal Yadav’s (former India off-spinner) name as it was also done when he himself was the HCA president.
“You take down names of Abid Ali, Tiger Pataudi and ML Jaisimha. This is one association that doesn’t respect players. And on whose petition, the Ombudsman is acting? The club (Lords Cricket Club) where there is no transparency as to who is the actual owner and who runs it,” he said.
What did the petition against Azharuddin allege?
According to the petition, it was alleged that the 62-year-old violated HCA rules by sitting in the Apex Council meeting as former HCA president to get the resolution passed on naming the North Stand after him in December 2019, barely a month after he became association chief.
According to HCA constitution, a resolution needs to be ratified by the General body.
The petition also alleged that Azharuddin removed VVS Laxman’s name from the North Stand and put his name on it.
“Am I fool to remove a legend like Laxman’s name from the stand, the only man who has played 100 plus Tests from our region? In the North Stand, the pavilion is named after Laxman and it is still there, you can check,” the former cricketer clarified.
