HYDERABAD: Elections are around the corner for the BCCI and its affiliated state associations. When it comes to Hyderabad Cricket Association — currently being governed by the erstwhile Hyderabad High Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) — the focus will shift back to former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, as he has decided to contest the state body’s elections for the post of President.
The annual general meeting of the state association is set to be held on July 21. Decisions regarding conduct of elections are expected to be made during the meeting.
It can be recalled that his nomination for the same post was rejected by the returning officer last time HCA elections were held, in January 2017.
The argument was that Azhar had not been able to procure clearance from the match-fixing allegations from the BCCI. He was banned for life by the Indian cricket board in 2000. In 2012, the wristy batsman was cleared of the charges by Andhra Pradesh High Court, but BCCI has never corresponded that order.
Azhar cited the same order when asked whether he is making an effort to get green signal from the BCCI this time around.
“When the High Court has cleared me from all these allegations, I think that should be enough for me to be eligible to stand in the elections. It is anybody’s guess, which one is a bigger authority: the BCCI or the High Court,” the veteran of 99 Tests told this newspaper.
Azhar said he has the support of a majority of club secretaries under HCA. “I have spoken to almost all the club secretaries. They are happy with my decision to contest elections.”Azharuddin had been at loggerheads with former HCA dispensation headed by industrialist G Vivekanand after the latter assumed office in April 2017.
In January 2018, Azhar was stopped from entering an HCA special general meeting for an hour before being allowed inside. The incident had caused a lot of embarrassment to the troubled state body.
He repeatedly accused the administration of corruption, and had been calling for Vivekanand’s removal, and fresh elections. Last June, Vivekanand was ousted because of conflict of interest charges.
Since then, the state body is being run by the CoA — comprising of Justice (retd) AR Dave, Justice (retd) GV Seethapathy and former BCCI GM Ratnakar Shetty.