File photo of Mohammad Azharuddin© BCCI/Sportzpics
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin will no longer be able to see a stand in his name at Hyderabad’s Uppal stadium. The decision to remove his name from the North Stand was taken after a complaint was filed by the city-based Lords Cricket Club in February this year over potential ‘conflict of interest’. It was back in 2019 when the North Stand was renamed from the VVS Laxman Pavilion to the Azharuddin Stand. Interestingly, it was the former India captain Azharuddin who was the president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) then.
In the petition filed, the Lords Cricket Club alleged that Azharuddin violated the Memorandum of Association and Rules & Regulations of HCA. Citing Rule 38, the petition said that a member of the Apex Council cannot take any decision in their favour. Hence, the request to take down Azharuddin’s name from the stand was made.
After the request was accepted by the HCA ombudsman, a fuming Azharuddin pledged to take the matter to court.
“There’s no conflict of interest in this. I don’t want to comment, I don’t want to stoop to this level. The cricketing world will laugh at the association. 17 years of cricket, almost 10 years as captain of the side, and with distinction. This is how you treat cricketers in Hyderabad. It’s a very sad state of affairs. We will go to the court, 100%. The law will take its course,” he was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
The Lords Cricket Club, however, is happy with the outcome of the plea. “This decision reinforces our commitment to transparency and integrity. We thank the authorities for their fair and just evaluation,” the club’s treasurer, Somna Misra, told the paper.
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