Azharuddin 163* vs SA at Kanpur

[Jersey #10]

The deal with Mumbai based bookie got canceled at the last moment and this happened.

[jind]

Good cricketer though selling out his country for money will always hurt his legacy.

[rkt.india]

I personally feel he could have had even better stat as a cricketer if he was not involved in match fixing. IMHO, he has underperformed several times for money. I have seen several matches where he just gifted his wickets on nothing deliveries.

[Cricketics]

Brilliant knock - watched it live at the ground. But like all his great knocks, rarely do they get the accolades after the subsequent happenings because people can't have a discussion on Azhar or his innings without bringing in irrelevant things to the topic.

O man. I watched this live on tv. I still remember his white helmet in this knock. He used to always wear that white helmet.

[adi B]

i iliked azhar quite a bit, when i was 7 i even had a reebok written locket around my neck similar to azhar`s on his bat .. guess where i got it, hyderabad .. look at the crowd we had in those days nd look at the crowds we have for tests nowadays, even the public has understood that they can watch ipl or t20`s in their nearby town, why waste time on test matches, really a shame... any way paul adams :hatsoff: for the 6 wkts haul

[Sid]

Md Azharuddin 4 4 4 4 4 Vs Lance Klusner - YouTube third boundary is absolutely breathtaking.. this guy is even better to watch live.

So it was Azhar who invented the "helicopter shot" :ohmy:

[Crookbond]

So it was Azhar who invented the "helicopter shot" :ohmy:

Now, you irking MS Dhoni (or Sachin Tendulkar) fans. They will pound on you.

[maniac]

Not pace. but bounce. Ball has to come at certain height for him. His game is like that. In Australia he struggled everywhere except Adelaide where he played the same bowlers with ease. On certain type of pitches he was great regardless of country. At capetown his 115 was breathtaking. Laxman is a similar player only in some aspsects. Laxman is not such a fast scorer like Azharuddin. That is why Azharuddin was significantly a better ODI player than laxman who was no where close to rotating the strike like Azharuddin. Yes Laxman played the bounce better hence slightly better record in bouncy conditions although Laxman had a weakness against full length deliveries and swinging deliveries. Laxman a better match winner.. Azharuddin for me an artist. Gifted batsman who had a decent career without making much of adjustments to his batting. Only one adjustment he made he started adopting "two-eyed" open stance to get rid of his bad form. That is when he made that 102 in 74 balls against SA in kolkatta.

Also to add what Azhar bought to the team as a fielder....he was a very naturally gifted athlete and one of the best fielders India has produced.

[Lurker]

Also to add what Azhar bought to the team as a fielder....he was a very naturally gifted athlete and one of the best fielders India has produced.

One of the best? He was the very best fielder we produced, comparable only to Kapil Dev in that sense. Both these players could field at any position, had a strong arm, could pick and throw in one action, throw while running, rarely (if any) missed catches and did so over a considerably long career. The last part is important because we have seen folks like Yuvraj turn from a brilliant fielder to a decent one with age. That both these gentlemen, Kapil and Azhar, did this in era where Indian fielding and athletism was simply pants makes it even more commendable. Their quick ability in field also helped in running between. Kapil was never dismissed run out in his 130 odd Test cricket career and Azhar, as VVS very correctly pointed out, was a master of picking gaps and converting singles into 2.

[pensionplan]

Not pace. but bounce. Ball has to come at certain height for him. His game is like that. In Australia he struggled everywhere except Adelaide where he played the same bowlers with ease. On certain type of pitches he was great regardless of country. At capetown his 115 was breathtaking. Laxman is a similar player only in some aspsects. Laxman is not such a fast scorer like Azharuddin. That is why Azharuddin was significantly a better ODI player than laxman who was no where close to rotating the strike like Azharuddin. Yes Laxman played the bounce better hence slightly better record in bouncy conditions although Laxman had a weakness against full length deliveries and swinging deliveries. Laxman a better match winner.. Azharuddin for me an artist. Gifted batsman who had a decent career without making much of adjustments to his batting. Only one adjustment he made he started adopting "two-eyed" open stance to get rid of his bad form. That is when he made that 102 in 74 balls against SA in kolkatta.

Keeping aside the better athlete aspect, VVS is a better Test bat and hence a better batsman than Azza and that has been proved over a longer career. Azza's struggles against quality pace is well documented. I would pick VVS as a better batsman in fact the 4th best Test middle order bat for India after Vishy, RD, SRT and would place him ahead of SRT and RD in the department of bailing the team out when the chips were down many a time with those timely 60's and 70's which are as valuable as the 100's one scores in easier situations. VVS is also more of an artist than Azza for me. VVS has better range of strokes than Azza when one considers their onside strokeplay is similar with VVS being more assured and range on the offside as well.

[vvvslaxman]

Keeping aside the better athlete aspect, VVS is a better Test bat and hence a better batsman than Azza and that has been proved over a longer career. Azza's struggles against quality pace is well documented. I would pick VVS as a better batsman in fact the 4th best Test middle order bat for India after Vishy, RD, SRT and would place him ahead of SRT and RD in the department of bailing the team out when the chips were down many a time with those timely 60's and 70's which are as valuable as the 100's one scores in easier situations. VVS is also more of an artist than Azza for me. VVS has better range of strokes than Azza when one considers their onside strokeplay is similar with VVS being more assured and range on the offside as well.

You have not seen enough of Azharuddin then.. Azhar had such a rubber like wrists that he could always place the ball in the gaps something VVS is never known form. Infact you could call VVS a dot ball king. Azharuddin is much more all round stroke player.. than VVS is(as long as ball doesn't bounce over his chest). I am not questioning match winning skills of Laxman as he really carved a niche for himself in that department. IN terms of artistry.. Azharuddin is gifted. Azharuddin is such a fine player on the off side too. Laxman may be good in many areas compared to Azharuddin.. definitely not in the range of strokes. Inside out, back cut, late cut, flicking yorkers, straight drive, on drive, off drive, lofted shot.. that is one of the reason why he was a fast scorer.

[The Outsider]

On bouncy tracks, Laxman is the obvious choice. But on pitches without too much bounce, Azhar just had the ability to destroy any bowling attack. He had no problems dealing with lateral movement as his centuries in England and New Zealand show.

[pensionplan]

You have not seen enough of Azharuddin then.. Azhar had such a rubber like wrists that he could always place the ball in the gaps something VVS is never known form. Infact you could call VVS a dot ball king. Azharuddin is much more all round stroke player.. than VVS is(as long as ball doesn't bounce over his chest). I am not questioning match winning skills of Laxman as he really carved a niche for himself in that department. IN terms of artistry.. Azharuddin is gifted. Azharuddin is such a fine player on the off side too. Laxman may be good in many areas compared to Azharuddin.. definitely not in the range of strokes. Inside out' date=' back cut, late cut, flicking yorkers, straight drive, on drive, off drive, lofted shot.. that is one of the reason why he was a fast scorer.[/quote']What has fast scoring got to do with being a great stroke player? There are many players who score faster than Azza but not as pleasing to watch or the ease with which they play their strokes and hence not easy on the eye or graceful or silken. Well if you say I did not see enough of Azza then I say you did not watch enough of VVS or not a good judge of the game. Such discussions go not where. Based on what I have seen of both(and I have watched entire career's of both) VVS can play all the strokes that Azza can play all around the wicket whether it be the fiicks or the drives or the cuts only better with more time to play his shots plus he is a much better puller of the short ball almost effortless. Yes the lofted shot is not what VVS employs a lot but that alone cannot be a deterrent to rate him as a better gifted batsman on top of being a better batsman all things considered. Besides VVS is very underrated as a brisk scorer(He is a boundary scorer as SRT would say) if people think he cannot up the ante. I accept ratings players, artistry, grace etc are all subjective and in the end it is a matter of personal preference. That is fine.

[vvvslaxman]

What has fast scoring got to do with being a great stroke player? There are many players who score faster than Azza but not as pleasing to watch or the ease with which they play their strokes and hence not easy on the eye or graceful or silken. Well if you say I did not see enough of Azza then I say you did not watch enough of VVS or not a good judge of the game. Such discussions go not where. Based on what I have seen of both(and I have watched entire career's of both) VVS can play all the strokes that Azza can play all around the wicket whether it be the fiicks or the drives or the cuts only better with more time to play his shots plus he is a much better puller of the short ball almost effortless. Yes the lofted shot is not what VVS employs a lot but that alone cannot be a deterrent to rate him as a better gifted batsman on top of being a better batsman all things considered. Besides VVS is very underrated as a brisk scorer(He is a boundary scorer as SRT would say) if people think he cannot up the ante. I accept ratings players, artistry, grace etc are all subjective and in the end it is a matter of personal preference. That is fine.

Disagree completely.

[Lurker]

What has fast scoring got to do with being a great stroke player? There are many players who score faster than Azza but not as pleasing to watch or the ease with which they play their strokes and hence not easy on the eye or graceful or silken. Well if you say I did not see enough of Azza then I say you did not watch enough of VVS or not a good judge of the game. Such discussions go not where. Based on what I have seen of both(and I have watched entire career's of both) VVS can play all the strokes that Azza can play all around the wicket whether it be the fiicks or the drives or the cuts only better with more time to play his shots plus he is a much better puller of the short ball almost effortless. Yes the lofted shot is not what VVS employs a lot but that alone cannot be a deterrent to rate him as a better gifted batsman on top of being a better batsman all things considered. Besides VVS is very underrated as a brisk scorer(He is a boundary scorer as SRT would say) if people think he cannot up the ante. I accept ratings players, artistry, grace etc are all subjective and in the end it is a matter of personal preference. That is fine.

You actually summed it up right there, perhaps unknowingly :winky: Azhar's batting was hard to put in words. VVS's skill is lot easier. Both majestic players and a sight to behold in full tilt. However Azhar was not only majestic but a very busy-bee kind of player, almost like a Miandad if you will, but lot faster and certainly more elegant. Which was his beauty. He would score at mad a dash, in fact he held records like fastest century by Indian, fastest 50 and so on..and never ever looked like a slogger. A lot of his batting ability came from the fact he used perhaps the lighest of bats players have ever used and could really weild it with his supple wrists. This allowed him to play extremely late shots, specially in LOI. I am with VVS on this one, Azhar was lot prettier to watch :--D

[vvvslaxman]

You actually summed it up right there, perhaps unknowingly :winky: Azhar's batting was hard to put in words. VVS's skill is lot easier. Both majestic players and a sight to behold in full tilt. However Azhar was not only majestic but a very busy-bee kind of player, almost like a Miandad if you will, but lot faster and certainly more elegant. Which was his beauty. He would score at mad a dash, in fact he held records like fastest century by Indian, fastest 50 and so on..and never ever looked like a slogger. A lot of his batting ability came from the fact he used perhaps the lighest of bats players have ever used and could really weild it with his supple wrists. This allowed him to play extremely late shots, specially in LOI. I am with VVS on this one, Azhar was lot prettier to watch :--D

Yup.. rare combo.. remember he started slow against England at eden gardens in 1992 after twin failures in OZ nad SA. Then he racked up last 150 runs in 120 odd balls in a test match.

[Lurker]

Yup.. rare combo.. remember he started slow against England at eden gardens in 1992 after twin failures in OZ nad SA. Then he racked up last 150 runs in 120 odd balls in a test match.

I remember that game. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that, but it is amazing how easy Azhar would accelerate. An innings that comes to mind is mid 90s Sharjah against Pakistan where Sidhu and SRT scored century and Azhar scored 29 in 10 runs. You would never think of a classy player - VVS, Gower, Yohana, Bell, Waugh etc to score that quick. Perhaps Mahela can do this but personally I would prefer Azhar over Mahela. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65757.html

[coffee_rules]

I remember that game. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that, but it is amazing how easy Azhar would accelerate. An innings that comes to mind is mid 90s Sharjah against Pakistan where Sidhu and SRT scored century and Azhar scored 29 in 10 runs. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65757.html

Scorer was involved. Look at the highlighted words - Sharjah, Pakistan, Azhar! :giggle:

[pensionplan]

You actually summed it up right there, perhaps unknowingly :winky:

What I meant to say there was how fast a player scores has got nothing to do with how graceful or artistic they are and in that sense VVS is better looking of the two overall despite the instances where Azhar would score at will.

[pensionplan]

For all the grace and ease associated with Azza's batting I am not sure how many of you recollect the 1989 Test series in WI'es where he would make a mockery of batting when he would back away, move around and throw his bat at every thing the WI'es pacers would bowl at him. Obviously he was not able to get it going and would use slogging as a ploy against the quicks but he came across so silly in that series that the skipper Vengsarkar remarked in the lines "it is pathetic to see specialist batsman back away like that and throw their bat and not take responsiblity" in obvious reference to Azza. It sure made for some ugly batting. Imagine someone one like SRT or VVS doing something similar when they could not get it going in the recent Eng. or Aus. Test series and the amount of criticism they would have drawn in this day and age of media madness.