The
hat-trick that moved India's PM: Revisiting Azharuddin's 37th anniversary of
three straight Test tons
By Qaiser
Mohammad Ali, News9Live.com, Feb 1,
2022
After
remaining unbeaten on 98 at the end of the first day, a relaxed Mohammed
Azharuddin slept early that evening while just a few kilometres away in Kanpur,
a diehard fan Mohammed Meraj Shamsi, aged 37, kept twisting and turning in his
bed the entire night. When it became too much to bear for the bag manufacturer,
he called up Azharuddin early next morning at the Indian team hotel and
virtually pleaded with him to complete his century that day, February 1, 1985.
After the
first day's play Azharuddin received many calls, and all had only one request:
score at least two more runs. A century would make him the proprietor of a
unique record – three consecutive centuries in Tests since debut, a feat that
no one had attained in 108 years of Test cricket. With mobile phones still 10
years away from being introduced in India, calls to cricketers used to be
transferred to their hotel rooms without ado.
Having burst
on to the Indian cricket scene like a dazzling star, just two months earlier,
and having become only the fourth batsman ever, after Bill Ponsford, Doug
Walters, and Alvin Kallicharan, to score two tons in his career's first two
Tests, history beckoned the wristy magician Azharuddin – no wonder his fans
were anxious.
Green Park
was pregnant with expectation and nervousness, though Azharuddin and his father
Azizuddin in far-off Hyderabad were not. Will he get those two runs as India
needed a win to square the five-Test series against England who were leading
2-1?
Azharuddin
slept early that evening, and slept well, after attending to those anxious fan
calls. In the fourth over of the second morning, Azharuddin played pacer Neil
Foster off his legs behind square for two to climb the unscaled peak in the
1,011th match of Test history.
"I
wasn't aware of the impending record. I came to know about it only after I
returned unbeaten on 98 on the first day, when people started talking about it.
I was only interested in going there and batting. I was not into records etc.,
anyway," the 58-year-old Azharuddin told News9 in an exclusive interview
on the 37th anniversary of his record.
"I was
extremely fortunate to score those three hundreds on the trot. For me, that was
more important than thinking of anything else. Playing for India at that moment
was an important thing for me," said the stylish batsman known for
mastering the on-side.
In his first
two Tests, in Calcutta and Madras, Azharuddin had batted at No.5. However, in
the fifth and final Test of the series in Kanpur he and Dilip Vengsarkar, who
was batting at No.3, were told to swap positions. "I was happy to bat at
that position because it was a big responsibility for me, replacing Dilip bhai
at No.3 where he had done so well," he said.
With Ian
Botham opting out of the tour and Graham Gooch and John Emburey serving a ban
for visiting the ostracised South Africa with a rebel team, David Gower's
English attack in Kanpur comprised Norman Cowans, Neil Foster, Pat Pocock, Phil
Edmonds, and Chris Cowdrey. "It was a good attack. The ball was moving in
Kanpur; even in Calcutta, where I scored a century on Test debut in December,
the ball had moved a lot. They should have played pacer Richard Ellison in
Kanpur. But they opted for two spinners [Pocock and Edmonds]. Since I was in
good form, runs were easy to come," Azharuddin averred.
The
five-foot-eleven batsman distinctly remembers the conditions at Green Park.
"The wicket was double paced. That year, even in February it was very,
very cold. Kanpur being an industrial area, there was so much smog and in
winter it used to become dark and gloomy during the day. However, since I was
in good form I continued to bat well," Azharuddin recalled.
"There
were a lot of trees in and around the stadium and sometimes it was hard to spot
the ball while fielding."
At what
stage did Azharuddin start believing he would complete the century? "I was
playing very freely, though not at a fast pace as it was not easy to score runs
against the moving ball. Maybe around 80, I realised that I could score another
century. At the same time, I didn't put myself under pressure. Maybe that is
why everything went off smoothly," he reasoned.
As the
English bowlers, particularly Edmonds, placed the shackles around the batsmen,
Azharuddin was tied down – he scored just eight runs in the final hour on the
first day. He admits if he had accelerated up the run rate, he could have completed
the ton on day one itself. "When I was on 98 on the first day, maybe I
should have accelerated the scoring," he rues.
Nevertheless,
reaching the coveted mark was a "very happy feeling" for Azharuddin.
"A lot of people from the crowd ran on to the ground to congratulate me.
It was an incredibly special occasion. However, the most important thing was
that after I got out, I received a call from Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. I had
to walk through the ground during lunch time to reach the press box to receive
the call," remembering the moment proudly.
"The
Prime Minister said, 'very well done,' and that 'you have made every citizen of
India proud.' He wished me good luck. For me, that was the icing on the cake. I
had scored a hundred, fine. But the call from the Prime Minister was an
immensely proud moment," he said. After that, Azharuddin received many
congratulatory calls and attended many felicitation functions.
Azharuddin
spoke to his father and other family members in the evening. "We didn't
even have a telephone at home at the time. So, I don't know where I spoke to my
father. He said: 'Bahut achcha khele, bete (well played, son)'," he still
remembers. "I've always been thankful to the Almighty Allah that
everything went off well. I worked hard and he gave me the results. I
remembered my late [maternal] grandfather on the occasion. My parents prayed
for me while all the players in the Indian team and coaches were extremely
helpful."
Azharuddin's
father said he used to listen to the commentary on a small transistor. "I
was not nervous when he was unbeaten on 98. I had trust and faith in Allah.
When Azhar returned to Hyderabad and was driven in an open jeep from the
airport to our home in Vittalwadi, our gali was chock-a-block with people,"
Azizuddin, 92, told News9.
In Kanpur,
Azharuddin scored 122 (374 minutes, 270 balls, 16x4s) and 54 not out. Earlier,
he had slammed 110 (443 minutes, 324 balls, 10x4s) on his debut in the third
Test in Calcutta, and 48 and 105 in the fourth in Madras, for the series
aggregate of 439 runs.
Thirty-seven
years after that magical knock, Azharuddin says he was living a dream. "It
was like a dream run, a fairy tale. Everything was looking quite easy," he
reminisces.
Shamsi was
so mesmerised by Azharuddin's magical batting that he formed an 'Azharuddin
Lovers' Club' in Kanpur and felicitated him several times. "The reason we
formed the club was that we were greatly impressed by Azhar's stylish batting.
Also, he was a genuinely nice and friendly person. He endeared himself to his
fans, and his admirers in Kanpur loved him much," 74-year-old Shamsi tells
News9.
But the
night of January 31 was most uncomfortable for Shamsi. "I spent the night
very uneasily in bed, and just couldn't stop myself from calling him up the next
morning in his hotel room. I told him about my condition the previous night and
requested him to complete his century at any cost. He eventually did it,"
he recalled.
Thus, a
long-lasting bond between Azharuddin and his Kanpur fans was established.
"I went to Green Park and met him after he established the record. We
became close friends, though he was much younger to me. He invited me to his
marriage, which I attended in Hyderabad. I presented him with a wall clock with
a unique dial," Shamsi said.
Businessman
Anas Baqai, a former Kanpur-based journalist, also fell for Azharuddin's
stylish batting. "Like there are many fans of Virat Kohli today, there was
a different hysteria about Azhar bhai at that time. He supported the fans' club
and used to send messages through letters. We felt proud to be members of the
club. When he won the Arjuna Award (1986) and Padma Shri (1988), he was
specially invited to Kanpur and felicitated," he recalled.
Shamsi also
remembers the occasion distinctly. "I told Azhar to attend our function
and then proceed to Delhi to receive the award. Our club presented him
Rs.21,000 as a token of love and appreciation. The club also organised a
cricket tournament for some time," he informed. "Whenever Azhar would
visit Kanpur, he would come to my house and have a meal. Being a Hyderabadi, he
loved biryani, chap, roasted chicken and sewain (sweets)."
Azharuddin
went on to play 99 Tests and score 6,215 runs, comprising 22 centuries.
Interestingly, he played three Tests in Kanpur and scored a century in each
one. Of the 48 venues he has played Test matches at, he scored 543 runs in
Kanpur. Only at Eden Gardens, Calcutta, has he scored more runs (860) and tons
(5).
"Kanpur
has always been incredibly special. I scored three centuries in three Tests
there. So, it is a special place for me, and I really enjoyed playing
there," points out Azharuddin. It was also at Green Park that he
registered his top Test score – 199, against Sri Lanka in 1986.
(This interview was published on News9Live
website on February 1, 2022)
