“I am an elected person and cannot be removed by 4-5 people” – Mohammad Azharuddin reacts to HCA showcause notice

Mohammad Azharuddin has dismissed news of his removal as president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). The former India skipper made it clear that he was still in control of the body.

Terming it an “illegal” move, Azharuddin said “four to five people” cannot remove him as he was an elected member. Speaking to ANI, he said:

“I want to tell you something, I am an elected person. Four to five people cannot remove me as a president as I’m elected by the general body. This is all bogus news. This is all illegal,” Mohammad Azharuddin told ANI.

He alleged that members of the Apex Council who issued the show cause notice and suspended him were all tainted.

“When they are already charged and under the scanner, how could they charge me? They go to court every day, not me. I didn’t do any misconduct; they are doing misconduct. As they say, empty vessels make more noise; that’s the case with them; the vessels have become empty. I am being targeted for doing good things for the association. I don’t want to do anything illegal, and I just want to do what’s good for the game of cricket.”

Blaming the association members, the 58-year-old claimed that he was being targeted for doing good things.

“I am going to start a T20 tournament for all 200-plus clubs, and from those who will play the tournament, they might play for India in the future. Those people are only interested in clubs and not in cricket”

Azharuddin added that he was being targeted for questioning irregularities, like the secretary’s daughter being appointed observer of the U19 state team.

Accusing the members of blackmailing him, Azharuddin also called for an inquiry from the ED and CBI to probe into the alleged corrupt practices in the HCA.

Terming his suspension as HCA president a “false narrative,” Mohammad Azharuddin told the news agency:

“I call this a false narrative because it is indeed false and slanderous. I did not stoop down to such low levels because I always strived to maintain the dignity of the office.

“If five members -John Manoj, Vijayanand, Naresh Sharma, Surender Agarwal and Smt. Anuradha gang up and call themselves ‘APEX Council’; by what sense of interpretation is it justified? I call it belligerent posturing with scant regard for the rule of law.”

Mohammad Azharuddin is a mentor of cricket club in Dubai: HCA notice

The HCA Apex Council issued a show cause notice to Mohammad Azharuddin on June 17, 2021. The notice stated that he is a mentor of a Dubai-based cricket club, Northern Warriors, which plays in a tournament that the BCCI doesn’t recognize.

“Therefore, you being a mentor of an unrecognized Cricket Tournament comes under the ambit of conflict of interest as envisaged under Rule 38(1)(iii) of the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations-2018 of the Hyderabad Cricket Association,” read a statement from the showcause notice.

It also alleged that Mohammad Azharuddin had changed the password of the HCA email to prevent other office bearers from receiving emails from the BCCI.

The five members Mohammad Azharuddin named are yet to respond to his statements.