More than a year later, he was the only one of 16 nominees not to be
present at Wisden's Indian Cricketer of the Century awards. That slight is
said to have hurt him deeply, as did the angry reaction from Ehsan Mani,
then ICC president, when Azhar was invited to the 2004 Asia Cup by a TV
channel.

Those justifying his rehabilitation point to Shane Warne and Mark Waugh,
and the light rap on the knuckles that Cricket Australia gave them for
their involvement with a bookmaker. But one wrong shouldn't beget another,
and it's regrettable that the BCCI, which was in a minority when it came
to investigating such misdemeanours, should try to undo its own good work.

The decision to honour Azhar casts it in poor light. The ban had been its
idea, based on plentiful circumstantial evidence unearthed by the CBI,
Madhavan's interviews and even the King Commission. Paul Condon's report
on corruption within the game praised the CBI inquiry, and the idea of
felicitating a man whose name crops up each time anyone investigates
match-fixing will be deeply discomfiting to many in the cricket community.

No one denies his contributions to the game as a batting
artist, or his role as captain in India's many successes on home soil in
the 1990s, but all of that is obscured by what followed. Cricketers have
slipped up before, but those like Herschelle Gibbs, and even Cronje
himself, admitted to their mistakes -- at least in part -- and sought
forgiveness. In Azhar's case, there has not been a single admission of
wrongdoing. If he's as innocent as he claims, and it is germane to point out
that he has not yet been found guilty in a court of law, it begs the
question why so many of his former team-mates, including some of the game's greatest
names, haven't bothered to stay in touch with him.

While he still protests his innocence, in most people's eyes he committed
the gravest crime of all, far worse than popping a diuretic or injecting a
steroid. He was seen to have betrayed the fans, whose faith sustains the
game as much as any heroics on the field. He should be allowed to get on
with his life, and live with his mistakes, but any attempt to gloss over
them will only set an appalling precedent for the future of a game whose
beauty has been marred by one scandal too many in recent times.

Dileep Premachandran has wrote down here exactly what a common Indian Cricketer thinks of about Azhar. Re-habilitating Azhar is just like showing clemency to the person who attacked our Parlament. He might have been a great cricketer and a successful captain, but more than that he sold the Indian pride for money. No need of any proofs for a serious cricket fan to know this.The step BCCI has taken is just badly hurting a common Inidan Cricket fan. Lastly i am glad that atleast someone here has the expressed the Inidan fans views through this editorial. thanks for that to cricinfo.

He betrayed millions of fans.He don't deserve pardon. Eventhough he begged for forgiveness as what Gibbs & Cronje did, the cricket fans allover the world could not forgive him as he cheated the sportsman spirit of the fans for his financial benefit. No one could be spared. Azharudins got what he deserves for the gravest crime he committed.

Great article that depicts BCCI's unthoughtful decision. BCCI should be ashamed of itself for its decision to honour Azar.
Although Azhar has an exemplary record on the field, he cheated people of India and deserves to be exiled from on and off cricketing aspects.

The decision to honour Azhar is a sick joke.. Being a fan of the Indian Criket Team I feel very hurt that a traitor gets to be honored by the BCCI.. Its a slap on the face for all us fans.. If I were Azhar I would be too ashamed to even attend the function.. As far as his insinuation of being victimised for being a muslim.. If that statment were true then he would not have played for 300+ ODIs and nearly a 100 tests and half of them as Captain of India now.. would he??? As a true blue Indian fan I plead to the BCCI to rectify this horrific mistake that they are about to make..

It is quite sad to see the Indian Cricket Board Honour a man who has been identified as a key player in the match fixing. This is disgraceful and what values and morals are we showing to the future generations. Azhar has never even had the courage to own up his mistake and atone for having cheated his team and country.

In the army this is called treason and trust me being a soldier you never get a medal for that kind of conduct you face dire consequences.

Shame on the BCCI it clearly shows they obviously have no place for honesty and are not the examples for the future generations. But then corrupt thinking is for corrupt people. God bless our country....

i think this article is biased in the sense it says that azhar is involved in match fixing. where is the proof did the guyz who implicate him didnot release any proofs. Also he played selflessly for the cause of his country without looking for his own century. Why did the match scandal thing surface only before his 100 test. Where is hansie cronje now. All these things point only to one direction he is framed. He was a selfless warrior for his country and he should truly get his due

The ICC is irrelevant. The Indian fan; however; is anything but.
It would appear that the BCCI believes that enough time has passed and the Indian public has – as it is prone to – forgotten. It is very possible – after all; this is what makes phenomena like Laloo and Jayalalitha possible. If they’ve miscalculated – if there are more people who think like me; the BCCI will find its home on fire very soon.
Azhar’s actions are unforgivable; he will die despised by the people he cheated. He’d better get used to that idea – and it would be wise of the BCCI to do the same...

Just SHOCKED at BCCI. Maybe Azhar has names of some BCCI officials who were invloved too.

Pete Rose, an American Baseball Manager was banned for betting on his own team. He was not even playing. Azhar, was not only playing, but was also the captain and controlled other bowlers and batsmen too. He is going to get awarded for we don't know how many games he threw away. SHOCKED.

I agree with you.. Let's not bothered about azhar...India has great cricket and can produce very good captains like azhar.. We cannot forgive a son who betray's his mother. Just for the sake of money he attempted to put his mother on stake...

Excellent article. That nightmare for Indian cricket and cricket as a whole should be one that's forgotten for ever instead of reappearing and haunting the cricketing world again. Azhar is a disgrace. Glorifying him would be like releasing a convict out of prison.

I agree with this article, there is no need to honour Azhar. Whatever he did with the Bat is nullified by his involvement in Match Fixing. Why should he be forgiven? Think of the army, will a major of the army be awarded a bravery award 5 years after he has been proven [maybe not proven yetin Azhar's case] to have been involved in leaking country secrets.

I totally agree. BCCI's logic is equivalent to saying , 'people get away with murder in some countries, why should murder be a crime in my country?'. What about the time & effort the Indian CBI officers spent to find one piece of damning evidence after another? Are they just a bunch of fools with plenty of time to kill? We hold no grudges against Azhar and the wounds have healed with time, but do we need to honour him? This makes me paranoid about the moral and social fabric of our country. The sooner we ban Modi for life, the better. I think we need to loan him to the ECB. They could use his "expertise" to get their money back from the PCB.

I agree with Dileep and this is a classic example of politics in BCCI and like any other political example of the country where non of the guilty politicians have ever been punished !!

So bring back all the Jadejas and other culprits to fecilitate them as they followed the Indian tradition of corruption.

If the BCCI decides to "rehabilitate Azhar" its an insult to the current crop of players who are playing honest cricket. Are they trying to say "Go ahead do what you want, even in the rare event that you will are caught we will end up brushing charges agaist you aside". They need to take a cue from other countries and solve issues in a timely manner , look in to those that need attention right now (5 months to go to the world cup) rather than stir up things from the past.

Absolutely spot on, Dileep! The BCCI shouldn't venture into this territory; they have done a good job tracing Azhar's misdoings, finding him culpable, and they should let it remain. This character took so many of us for a ride over the years that we still doubt the veracity of some of his deeds (and India's deeds, as he was the Captain) even now. Was that win over Pakistan in 1999 genuine? Was his century against SA in Year Y a result of collusion between himself and Hansie Cronje? Etc. When we as fans find that our admirations of past deeds was misplaced, we cannot forgive. No matter how good he was before he started his self-enrichment process.

Azhruddin was a great cricketer of all times, he did a wonderful job for his country. I think, he already paid for what he did? So i think BCCI doing a good by giving a respect to him.

Really a shame to the game and not only to BCCI. The whole world knows that he was one of the prime suspect alongwith Cronje. He tried to use the religion as a shield instead clearing his name.

Only ICC should stop this and advise the genious BCCI people

The impression I get from India nad Pakistan is there is one rule for them and another rule for everybody else.

The arrogance, one upmanship they show the rest of the cricketing nations can be quite appalling. I applauded Indian cricket for going hard with Azha now they seem to be doing a double take.

As for Pakistan they seemed to go soft on all their cricketers. Wasim Akram was my favourite cricketer but if he had been involved in match fixing he should have been punished.

But hey I live in Australia, so what do I know, I am just a rascist.

In pretending neutrality, Dileep Premahandran has exposed his own partisanship and taken the course of joining the anti-Azharuddin chorus. He brushes off comparison with Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, saying one wrong shouldn't beget another. In the next breadth, he admits that Azhar's wrongdoing has never been proved in a court of law. It seems he takes the CBI report as the final. He couldn't be more wrong.

I think BCCI has taken the right step for rehabilitating Azhar.

Many people openly give / take bribes to do things. And people get caught or be on loose no worries!!.
Except few politians(can count!!) most of them in some form..accept it!

No transparency of the CBI reports or conclusion in Azhar case!! Are there any conclusions from it..so we can say done!!
why cant move on..
Many indian cricketers who had success has unfamous exits!! Atleast during their career ending..This is worst part of indian cricket board or selectors who ever! Many cricketers suffered this kind of treatment and make lot of mockery of it!

think for min and dont just blah blah ..(as many) just for talk....he was great player and gave lot of fun and made also mistakes(yes, he shouldnt have dont it!)

So, these mistakes are so costly enough, that people will go on on on.. end it and move on!

BCCI never gave out any spefic information about what Azhar did wrong and how he was actively involved in match fixing.They never said what maches he was involved with fixing. All they did was take information from a bookmaker and banned Jadeja and Azhar. Jadeja has already won his case, which proves BCCI never had any valid proof to ban him, the same can be applied to Azhar.

completely outrageous.. the plan to honor azhar. How come people dont realize that it is the spirit of the game that is most important, talent is only secondary. And this man has done the worst kind of damage to the spirit of the game.

Excellent piece. Very well written and to the point. I think Azhar broke the hearts of millions of fans and the evindence against him proves that he is culpable. To honor such a man is a travesty. He should be done away with and left alone. There is no place for dishonest men such as him in Indian Cricket.

It's not a question of an "own goal" by the BCCI that needs to be looked at, but the fact that over the years, one fact which has been consistently overlooked is that Azhar was condemned without a proper hearing, with sufficient space for him to present his own defence. Further, regardless of whether he is "guilty" of match fixing or not, he has indeed served a sufficient "time", of some six years, out of cricket, and should now be reinstated. Do we need to hand out a "life ban" for this crime, which has never been proved. I think not.

Despite so many investigation, nothing proved against him still we kept him in the dark, which is not right. Being a greatest stylish batsman of all time and the greatest fielder we shoud give him due respect atleast by lifting his life ban

He may or may not be guilty but he has never been proven guilty nor has he been even charged with anything. Others who were found guilty walked away with a slap on the wrist. The only one who paid a price was Cronje but that was only because he had evidence againt him. If we want to sanction/punish Azhar find evidence againt him; or else shut up.

Dear Dilip,

Thanks for the response. You are absolutely right! I am not condoning anything. I made that clear, I think, in my letter last time. The only thing that rankles is that in a team sport only three players were found guilty for such a major offence. And we are not talking one game. God knows how many matches were fixed.

There is no point raking this up now but it does make one wonder if the investigation was really thorough!

Regards

Ali

A person or any one is innocent until he is proved guilty. That's the rule of law and everyone should stand by it.

Either prove him guilty or let him go like innocent.

Sir,
The above article is in poor taste and exposes once again that there was no evidence against Azhar. The writer wanting Azhar to plead guilty to a crime he did noe commit is ridiculous. Kapil, Robin Singh etc kept contatct with him. If the writer is thinking about Sachin, it was evident that Sachin blatantly wanted captaincy from Azhar as now Dravid wanted it from Ganguly. The BCCI should lift the ban and Hyderabad should select him in Ranji team and South in Duleep team to at least off set injustice done to him.
Yours sincerely. Harindranath

The BCCI action in deciding to honour Azhar only shows its lack of sensitivity towards the cricket lovers opinions. I am sure if vote is taken, not even 10% will agree that Azhar was innocent. His comment that he had been victimised because of his religion is an ample proof that he tried to conceal his guilt by taking an escape route anticipating political support.

By inviting Azhar for the function, BCCI will be doing great disservice to the ICC effort in trying to eradicate match fixing.

BCCI has correctly decidely to honour one of the grestest cricketers Indian has produced.

It should not take any crap coming from a organisation headed by a fascist like Speed whose seems to have one rule for england and Australia and quite another for India and other teams from the subcontinent.

I say let Modi loose on ICC!

Jay

This article encapsulates every genuine sporting fan's idea of fairness and integrity.

Azhar, being such a gifted player, proved to be an utterly shallow and disgraceful person.

One remembers him as a malicious con-artist heading back to the dressing room after a wickedly planned self-dismissal, and inwardly mocking the millions of unsuspecting fans who were sustaining his existence.

The BCCI is honouring a man who has blatantly dishonoured the cricketing world.
What a cheap joke.

Typical Cricinfo article ---- everything against BCCI & everything what ICC agree. No surprise for this ridiculous observation Mr. Dileep.

We take pride in reporting on events about which we know very little. Neither Dileep nor myself or anybody else knows what exactly happened. Was Azhar involved or not, no one knows.

What we do know is that neither CBI nor BCCI has proven anything. But we acted on our whims and emotions and went ahead and punished this guy nonetheless. While in other countries, those proven guilty were eventually let go with minor reprimands.

In conclusion, since we don't know the truth and nothing has been proven, don't you think that he has gone through enough punishment. It is time to stop arguing on this matter and respect this guy for what positive things he did. If he did anything wrong, he has already suffered for that.

Journalism should be constructive and for fomenting hatred.

Maybe its time Dileep realizes thinking and analyzing arent exactly his forte.

Why should a man plead guilty to a crime he hasnt committed, especially since its yet to be proven in the eyes of the law? How is one man more suspect than others whose names were flying around in the investigation? Let me remind you that Kapil Dev was the first to be named, and Prabhakar and others swore by it! Now, Kapil is named Indian Cricketer of the Century! Also, Gavaskar & Shastri's names were all over the investigation... nothing really came out of that. I wonder how thorough and just that investigation really was.

Azhar still remains one of more respected cricketers around, and Dileep's observation that fellow cricketers dont keep in touch with him is a load of bullcrap! On the contrary, Azhar himself has distanced himself from everyone and the limelight, but its us who dont seem to leave him alone. I dont think he asked to be dragged into this silly 'moral' debate again. I dont he asked to be 'honored' by the BCCI... but there is absolutely nothing wrong if they do!

Dileep's judgement (or lack of) is an embarassing reminder of a man's limitation to think for himself and look beyond what's been shown to him.

Everybody deserves a second chase,I think even Azhar desrves one,he knows he lost a lot for what he did,forget about him, everybody in india has seen what he lost.Its time to forgive,think of the time he was playing and every indian rooted for him if not every,most indians did.Even i hated him when the match fixing scandal broke out,I was rooting for his head.But now is the time to forgive.We need to understand what he did was not about patriotism but about money,Many others did it,but their respective boards protected them.He bacame a scape goat.That is unfair.

Cricket, is believed to be a gentlemen game, but scribes aren't, they are biased and prejudiced, and this article is no surprise, the likes of Shatris & Gavaskars along with so many known & unknown, familiar & unfamiliar faces never liked Azza to go on and on. Salutes & Applauds to Azhar for his tremendous service to Indian Cricket, he was among the most outstanding & selfless cricketer India has EVER produced, I repeat EVER produced. Dilip, be nice to the people who served the country and don't just jump to conclusions from the information you received from the previous BCCI members (Muthiah & Co) who are irrelevant and has no significance to Indian Cricket.

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bcci should select 39 players divide them in 3 teams with balance senior player to each side and arrange a tournament of tri series and select 15 best player from this only after that tournament over for our team this is a good solution to encourage young talent & for the world cup defeat and coach should be replaced by sandip patil , this is a true thinking of true cricket lover, thankyou plz forward this message to bcci .