Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin supports Ganguly's bid to conduct Day/Night Tests
Kolkata, Oct 25: Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin has supported BCCI president Sourav Ganguly's claims to hold Day/Night Tests.
The Hyderabad Cricket Association president is happy that skipper Virat Kohli is also on the same page with the BCCI president.
"It is good if captain is agreeable like Dada. It is a good experiment. You will get to know if public will like it or not. It should be implemented," Azharuddin said during the felicitation ceremony.
Azhar, who was Ganguly's first international captain, is happy to see him grow in his role as an administrator.
"I am very happy Ganguly has become the BCCI president. He's one of the finest persons and an outstanding human being. One of the best players we won so many tournaments. He played cricket in his terms and as BCCI president too I hope he will play that on his term also," he said.
Azhar, who made his Test debut at the Eden Gardens with a century and later had some memorable moments at this ground including captaincy saving hundred and Hero Cup victory, said that he is number two in terms of popularity.
"With the advent of Ganguly, I have become number two, because he is the local boy here. Then after that Laxman came," he said in a lighter vein standing on the dias with Ganguly and Laxman by his side.
Azhar fondly recollected his starting days and thanked former Bengal captain and newly formed Indian Cricketers' Association president Ashok Malhotra for pushing his case during an Irani Cup game, which used to be a trial for national team selection.
"When I was first selected for Irani Trophy. I was not going to play that match, but he (Malhotra) told Kapil Paaji that you have to play this boy. I cannot forget that.
"I got 50 runs in that match and got the recognition. It's nice to see him here after a long time," Azharuddin said on the sidelines of Sourav Ganguly's felicitation after he became the BCCI president.
Malhotra, who has been elected as ICA president unanimously, was also part of the felicitation ceremony.
"Whenever I come to Eden Gardens, I have no words to say. People really love me here. When I first played for India, I thought people loved me more in Bengal," Azhar said.
"I thank the people of Bengal from bottom of my heart. They have rallied around me during the good and bad times. I thought I gave a little bit of joy. I got more from people of Bengal.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
