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Mohammed Azharuddin
Congress leader and former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin was sworn in as a minister in Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy's cabinet on Friday. In a simple function held at Raj Bhavan, Governor Jishnu Dev Verma administered the oaths to the former Indian skipper in the presence of important leaders, including the CM. With the inclusion of Azharuddin, the total strength of the cabinet rose to 16, with room for two more. As per the Assembly strength, Telangana can have 18 ministers. The former cricketer's appointment to the ministry is seen as a crucial step as the Congress party has been fighting tooth and nail in the Jubilee Hills bypoll, where over a lakh Muslim voters could play a decisive role. The bypoll is necessitated due to the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year, following a heart attack. Azharuddin was nominated as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) under the Governor's quota by the Telangana government in August last week. However, Governor Jishnu Dev Varm
Former Indian cricket team captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association, official sources said. The federal agency will question him and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. The 61-year-old former Member of Parliament was asked to first depose before the agency at its office here on Fateh Maidan Road on October 3 but he sought a fresh date and was hence summoned on October 8. The probe is related to alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) in which the ED had conducted searches in November last year. Azharuddin's role during his tenure as the HCA president is under the scanner of the agency, the sources had said. There was no immediate response from the former Indian skipper, who unsuccessfully contested the assembly polls held
A retiring legend was devastated, an enormously talented spinner never fully found his mojo back, an inspirational captain lost his hot seat while a 14-year-old watching everything from the Wankhede stadium's boundary line must have made a pledge to himself that one day his script will be different from theirs. The teenager was of course Sachin Tendulkar and the devastated legend was Sunil Gavaskar, who had already announced his retirement and never played for India after India lost that World Cup semifinal against England in 1987. Maninder Singh, a world class left-arm spinner, was never the same bowler after that game. Kapil Dev lost his captaincy, one last time. Wankhede Stadium in 1987 was an amphitheatre that had absorbed the trials and tribulations of a very good Indian team. Graham Gooch, the English vice-captain swept his way to 115 and England didn't look back. On that day, no one envisaged that anything could go wrong for the Indian team. But Murphy's Law hit the Indian