Mohammad Azharuddin Elected President Of Hyderabad Cricket Association

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin was on Friday elected President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), life coming full circle for the man who was once indicted for match-fixing and banned for life from playing. The stylish batsman of yesteryears polled 173 votes while his opponent Prakash Chand Jain got 73 votes. The victory marks his entry into cricket administration. The 56-year-old, who has also served as the member of parliament from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, led India to a spate of Test series wins over England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at home in the 1990s.  But the former batsman fell from grace after he was implicated in the 2000 match-fixing scandal that shook the core of Indian cricket. However, the Andhra High Court had ruled that the investigation against him was not conducted properly. Azharuddin, who appeared in 99 Tests and 334 ODIs, filed his nomination for the president's post in the HCA last week.

Arun Dhumal, younger brother of former BCCI president and current MoS (finance) Anurag Thakur was elected president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) unopposed, during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday. Una district's Sumit Sharma is the new secretary of HPCA as there was no opposition against the Dhumal-led panel.  

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The AGM happened on expected lines and former Himachal CM Prem Kumar Dhumal's younger son could be a strong contender for a plum post in the BCCI -- either as an office bearer or as a member of the all-important Apex Council during BCCI AGM on October 23. However for that, he will have to relinquish his state body's position. Dhumal thanked his elder brother Anurag for his contribution to building a world-class stadium in the state.

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"We should be proud of the work done by Anurag Thakur for development of state's cricket. The name of Dharamshala is now known throughout the world because of the lovely cricket stadium built under the guidance of Anurag ji," Dhumal said. Dhumal said that his primary aim would be to ensure that Thakur's dream of setting up 70 cricket coaching centres across the state is realised.  "Anurag ji's dream was to have 70 centres across the state. We have already got clearance for 62 of them and 22 are already operational. Around 1200 kids are getting coaching," he said. 

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