In December 2000, Azharuddin was handed a life ban by the BCCI for his involvement in match-fixing. However, after a long drawn out legal battle, Azharuddin saw the Andhra Pradesh High Court revoking the ban and terming it "illegal" in 2012.
Reminded of one of the darkest phases of his life during an interview with cricketpakistan.com website, Azharuddin said, "I don't want to blame anyone for what happened. I really don't know the reasons for banning me...
"...But I had decided to fight it and I am grateful that after 12 years I got cleared. I felt very satisfied when after being elected president of Hyderabad association I went and attended the BCCI AGM meeting."
Azharuddin played 99 Tests and scored 6125 runs at an average of 45. He also played 334 ODIs, scoring 9378 runs at 36.92 during a 15-year international career that had begun with three successive centuries.
In 2019, he had a stand named after him at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. He ran the bell at the Eden Garden ahead of an India match the year before and the redemption continued when he was included in a group of former cricketers honoured with a lap around the iconic ground during India's first pink-ball Test.
Though he didn't know that the 99th Test of his career would be his last, Azharuddin says he has no regrets at missing out on completing a century of matches.TIO
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