Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin may have a tainted image due to his alleged involvement in the 2000 match-fixing scandal. But he certainly was a primary force for India on the international stage for 15 years since his debut in the 1984-85 series against England.
As the movie ‘Azhar’ is set to be released on Friday, The Quint takes a look at the five biggest records held by Azharuddin until his last international appearance.
The Highest Run-Getter in ODIs
Azharuddin could have been the first player to notch 10,000 runs in ODIs if his career didn’t end in the year 2000. Sachin Tendulkar, who was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in ODIs, accomplished the feat a couple of months since Azhar’s last ODI.
Azhar, who appeared in 334 ODIs, played his last One-Day international against Pakistan in June 2000.
India’s Most Successful Test Captain
Azhar was the most successful Test captain until his final Test against South Africa in 2000. Azhar held the record for four years until Sourav Ganguly notched his 15th Test win as captain against Pakistan in 2004.
The record his held by MS Dhoni at the moment. The wicket-keeper batsman beat Ganguly’s record of 21 wins after leading India to victory against Australia in 2013.
Dhoni has won 27 Test matches as captain.
The Magnetic Fielder
Apart from smashing sixes and fours, Azhar was also a handy fielder for the Indian team. The former captain held the record of most catches by a fielder in ODIs until his last match.
Mahela Jayawardene holds the record of most catches at the moment with 218 catches. Azhar is third in the top catchers list.
India’s Most Successful ODI Captain
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Azharuddin was India’s most successful ODI captain with 90 wins. Azhar, who led India in three World Cup had a healthy win percentage of 51.7 percent as well.
The Hyderabadi’s most prominent achievement as the ODI captain was leading India to the World Cup semi-final in 1996.
Now, the record of most wins as an Indian ODI captain is held by MS Dhoni with 104 wins.
Most Appearances in ODIs
Until Azhar’s last match, the Hyderabadi held the record of most appearances in ODIs with 334 matches. The former captain scored seven hundreds and 58 fifties in his ODI career.
The record is held by the little master, Sachin Tendulkar at the moment, with 463 matches. Azhar has slipped to the eleventh position on the most appearances in ODIs list.
(Statistics by Arun Gopalakrishnan)
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