Mohd Azharuddin elected HCA chief

HYDERABAD:Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin was on Friday elected President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), life coming full circle for the man who was once indicted for match-fixing and banned forever from playing.

The stylish batsman of yesteryears polled 173 votes while his opponent Prakash Chand Jain got 73 votes. His entire panel won their respective contests.

The victory marks his official entry into cricket administration after his nomination was rejected on technical grounds.

The 56-year-old, who has also served as a Congress MP from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, led India to a spate of Test series wins over England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at home in the 1990s.

The former batsman fell from grace after he was implicated in the 2000 match-fixing scandal that shook the core of Indian cricket. However, the Andhra High Court had ruled that the investigation against him was not conducted properly.

The operative part of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report stated: “The evidence against Azharuddin … clearly establishes the fact that he took money from bookies/ punters to fix cricket matches and also the fact that the ‘underworld’ had approached him to fix matches for them.” Azharuddin, who appeared in 99 Tests and 334 ODIs, filed his nomination for the president’s post in the HCA last week.

THAKUR’S YOUNGER BROTHER ARUN IS NEW HPCA CHIEF

DHARAMSALA Arun Dhumal, younger brother of former BCCI president and current MoS (finance) Anurag Thakur was elected president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) unopposed, during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday.

Una district’s Sumit Sharma is the new secretary of HPCA as there was no opposition against the Dhumal-led panel.

The AGM happened on expected lines and former Himachal CM Prem Kumar Dhumal’s younger son could be a strong contender for a plum post in the BCCI -- either as an office bearer or as a member of the all-important Apex Council during BCCI AGM on October 23. However for that, he will have to relinquish his state body’s position.

Dhumal thanked his elder brother Anurag for his contribution to building a world-class stadium in the state.