Azhrauddin lashes out at Shastri for not including Ganguly in his list of great captains

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin isn’t pleased with Ravi Shastri for excluding Sourav Ganguly’s name from the list of great captains. Shastri who was in line to become India’s head coach before losing it to Anil Kumble had praised Mahendra Singh Dhoni very recently and rated him above former captains like Kapil Dev, Ajit Wadekar and Tiger Pataudi.

Despite Ganguly being one of the most successful and inspiration leaders Shastri didn’t include him in his list of great captains. The two had a war of words after Anil Kumble was appointed the coach of the Indian team. Shastri was very annoyed with Sourav on not being present when the head coach was appointed despite being a member of the advisory committee.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Azharuddin criticised Shastri for his poor choice and said he didn’t have any right to insult a person who has been so instrumental in shaping Indian cricket for his personal bias. “It was such a stupid thing to say,” Azhar said.

“Can’t he see statistics? It doesn’t matter to me what he thinks of people but when Shastri refers to great Indian captains, his personal bias shouldn’t be used to insult those who have contributed more to Indian cricket,” he said.

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Azhar has meanwhile filed his nomination papers for Hyderabad Cricket Association President’s post after Arshad Ayub has stepped down following Supreme Court Verdict on Lodha Committee reforms.

“Problem with Hyderabad was that cricket was not focus. We were second last in Ranji. My basic intention is to see that cricket in Hyderabad flourishes. I really want to do well for cricket. We cannot run the HCA on the whims and fancies of individuals,” Azharuddin said after filing his nomination.

“I want to improve cricket at the district level because lot of hardworking players come from districts. We have produced so many great players but now we don’t have players in the Indian team. My intention is to work hard for the game of cricket,” he added.

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