HCA ordered to remove Mohammed Azharuddin's name from Uppal Stadium stand: Report
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has been ordered to remove Former Indian Cricket Team captain Mohammed Azharuddin’s name from the North Pavilion Stand of the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. The directive comes following an order from the HCA's Ombudsman and Ethics Officer, Justice V. Eswaraiah, who cited a clear conflict of interest in the decision to name the stand after Azharuddin.
The controversy dates back to a November 25, 2019, Apex Council meeting chaired by Azharuddin, during which the decision was made to rename the VVS Laxman Pavilion as the ‘Azharuddin Stand’.
According to a report from Cricbuzz, the ruling was passed on April 19 after a complaint was lodged earlier this year by city-based outfit Lords Cricket Club (LCC), one of HCA’s 226 affiliated units. The complaint, filed on February 28, 2025, argued that naming the North Stand after Azharuddin was in violation of HCA’s Memorandum of Association and its internal rules.
Moreover, the petitioner also pleaded to rename the Azharuddin stand as the VVS Laxman pavilion "for all practical purposes including but not limited to signages, printing of tickets etc. and pass any such order or orders as are deemed fit and proper in the circumstances of the case and in the interest of justice."
Azharuddin, however, has denied all charges of a conflict of interest and said that he will approach the High Court challenging Eswaraiah’s order.
“There’s no conflict of interest in this. I don’t want to comment, I don’t want to stoop to this level. The cricketing world will laugh at the association. 17 years of cricket, almost 10 years as captain of the side, and with distinction. This is how you treat cricketers in Hyderabad. It’s a very sad state of affairs,” the 62-year-old was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
Azharuddin added that legal recourse would certainly be taken, stating, “We will definitely go to court, and the law will take its course.”
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3 terrorists killed in encounter with security forces in J-K
Srinagar(PTI): At least three unidentified terrorists were killed in a fierce gun battle with security forces in the forests of Harwan near Dachigam in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, officials said.
"Three terrorists have been neutralised in an intense firefight. Operation Continues," Srinagar-based Chinar Corps of the Army posted on X.
The identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorists were being ascertained.
Security forces had launched a massive operation to track down the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack that left 26 people dead, and intelligence inputs over the past month had suggested that the terrorists might have moved towards the Dachigam area, which is around 20 km from Srinagar's city centre.
However, it was not immediately clear if the three slain terrorists were involved in the April 22 attack.
The security forces, acting on an intelligence input, launched an anti-militancy operation in the Mulnar area of Harwan on Monday morning. Two rounds of gunshots were heard from a distance as security forces were carrying out searches of the area.
Reinforcements were rushed to the area, and the combing operations intensified, which led to the elimination of the three terrorists.
