OTD: Mohammad Azharuddin announced his entry in Cricket with century on debut against England in 1985

Mohammad Azharuddin made his way into the team as a wiry young man with a huge reputation. The right-handed-batter was already a huge name in Hyderabad cricket having scored runs in the Indian domestic setup. 

Indian selectors gave the youngster a chance to make his Test Match debut against the visiting English side. Kolkata was the venue as a youngster from Hyderabad took his first footsteps in international cricket. 

Azharuddin marks his arrival in style – 

Sunil Gavaskar, the Indian skipper, won the toss and chose to bat first. Phil Edmonds and Norman Cowans got the wickets of Indian opener Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad. Phil Edmonds struck two more blows to get the huge wickets of Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar.

The fall of Mohinder Amarnath saw Azharuddin emerge from the dressing room to a huge applause. For the next seven hours and 23 minutes, the Eden Gardens witnessed greatness in the making. 

Mohammad Azharuddin unleashed his wristy flicks and drives as the English fielders were turned into mere spectators. Ravi Shastri joined Azharuddin as the two youngsters took the attack to the visiting side. 

The pair put on 214-runs for the fifth wicket to bat England out of the Test Match. Once the century was scored the entire Calcutta crowd stood up in unison to salute the young batter. India’s new star was born and a new batting hope was discovered with the rest of Indian team members also joining in the celebration. 

Cowans finally broke the stand as he got the wicket of Azharuddin for 110 runs off 322 balls. India batted for 200 overs and scored 437 before declaring their innings. England were bowled out for 276 after consuming 100.3 overs of play. 

Chetan Sharma and Shivlal Yadav picked four wickets each for the home team. The game ended in a draw thanks to the slow nature of batting from both sides. For the fans though it was a delight as they laid their eyes on India’s latest batting talent who had held his own.