Hyderabad: Mohammed Azharuddin is furious after the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) was directed to remove his name from the North Pavilion Stand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal.
So much so that the former India cricket captain is set to approach the Telangana High Court, seeking a stay on the order passed by Justice V Eswaraiah, HCA’s Ethics Officer and Ombudsman.
The HCA has been directed to ensure that tickets are not printed with Azharuddin’s name.
“I will definitely take legal recourse and will be appealing to the High Court to stay this order. It is a shame that an Indian captain’s name is being asked to be removed,” PTI quoted Azharuddin as saying.
Questioning the validity of the order, Azhar said it would be null and void since the Ombudsman’s tenure had officially ended.
“As per the 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?” questioned the 62-year-old who played 99 Tests and 334 ODIs for India.
A stylish right-hand batter, Azhar was named in the 2000 match-fixing scandal and banned for life by the BCCI in 2003 only for a trial court to overturn the ban in November 2012.
The petition against the controversial Azhar alleged that he misused his position as then-HCA president to have the stand named after him in 2019.
Azharuddin alleged that he is being targeted by a handful of HCA officials after he exposed corrupt practices in the association during his tenure as president.
“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 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 is the Ombudsman acting? The club (Lords Cricket Club), where there is no transparency as to who the actual owner is and who runs it?” he argued.
During HCA’s Apex Council meeting on November 25, 2019 — presided over by Azharuddin — a decision was taken to name the North Stand after him, which was then called the VVS Laxman Pavilion.
Azharuddin has denied all charges of a conflict of interest.
“Am I a 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,” Azhar said.
