5 reasons Mohammad Azharuddin should be remembered for more than match-fixing

The ending of any story tends to dictate how the entire tale is remembered. Indian captain MS Dhoni has said, "Till the full-stop doesn't come, the sentence is not complete." In the case of the story of another of India's prolific captains, the full stop came at a most inopportune point. And he has been judged for it ever since. The scandal has overshadowed his numerous personal accolades and laurels he brought to his country.The story of Mohammad Azharuddin, one of India's greatest captains and a singular talent on the field, is marred by allegations of match fixing which resulted in a lifelong ban handed down from the BCCI. Leaving aside the question of whether the ban was justified or not, we can make an objective attempt at separating the man on the field from the career ending incident off of it. Viewed in such an unbiased light, the career of Mohammad Azharuddin jumps out in start contrast to the tarnished memory of how it ended.Let us take a look at 5 reasons why Mohammad Azharuddin should be remembered for more than match fixing:

#1 Centurian Debut

 

Azharuddin has made India proud

Earning a cap for your country is something every cricketer aspires to do. When donning the cap of India, you have multifold expectations of a nation of a billion to live up to and exceed.

Most cricketers choose to work their way up while playing it safe. Then there are those like Azharuddin who arrive with a bang.

Azhar recounts his debut “I think I was not supposed to play in that Test because Sunil Gavaskar was the captain and he wanted to go in at number five. But the selector at that time -- Chandu Borde -- insisted that I play that game. So I was very nervous.”

It is one thing to arrive with a century in your opening match for your country, as Azhar did with his 110 against England in 1984. It takes a different breed to repeat that performance and go out and get another century in your next match. Azhar scored 105 runs against England in the very next match.

For good measure, Azharuddin wasn’t done with just scoring two centuries. In the third Test at Kanpur, he scored 122 runs to cap off a scintillating debut which remains unmatched to this date.