Azharuddin Slams Cricket Association For Suspension

Controversial former captain of the Indian cricket team Mohammed Azharuddin was yesterday removed from the post of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president after the body's apex council reportedly took a unanimous decision to oust him from office.

The council cited a slew of complaints made by fellow HCA members against Azharuddin's behaviour as the reason for the decision. This not only led to his suspension from the body but also led him to receive a show-cause notice.

Sources state that the body made clear in its notice the fact that the suspension would remain in effect till the enquiries of alleged misbehaviour levelled against the cricketing legend were completed.

Following this, Azharuddin today slammed the members of the HCA apex council, alleging that its members had sent him a notice on shaky grounds as he had "never behaved in a way that would damage the reputation of the association".

He also alleged that out of the nine members of the council, five had formed a sort of alliance against him and had come together to target him.

The same five members, the former Indian captain claimed, had earlier faulted his decision to appoint an "efficient person" as the ombudsman of the HCA in order to put a stop to the rampant corruption that the body was witnessing.

He added that the five members had resorted to taking the extreme step of suspending him as they were "scared" that their corrupt practices would be exposed by him and that their "destruction" of the HCA constitution would become known.

Naming the five members who were allegedly at the root of the suspension, Azharuddin fumed, "Five HCA members, including John Manoj, Vijayanand, Naresh Sharma, Surender Agarwal and Anuradha, have a litany of corruption charges against them. The notices that have been issued to me are the result of my attempts to stop them from committing any further corruption."

Meanwhile, the five members of the council have claimed that they had issued the notice to the HCA head as per the recommendations of Justice Lodha, and that out of the six members of the council, five had agreed with the decision.

This is not the first time that Azharuddin has found himself in the bad books of his fellow HCA members - after taking charge of the sporting body in September 27, 2019, he has repeatedly found himself at the receiving end of criticism from other members who have complained that he often takes "unilateral" decisions without consulting them.