Arjuna Ranatunga says Azharuddin is India's best ever captain

Former Sri Lankan World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has called former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin as the best Indian captain according to him. The former Sri Lankan captain who is the minister for Shipping and Transport was present at the felicitation function organised by the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.

Azharuddin was one of the most charismatic leaders India ever had until his career was short due to his alleged involvement in match-fixing during the infamous fixing scandal during late 1999. He was escalated to the Indian captaincy in 1989 replacing Krishnamachari Srikanth and led India to 14 test victories which were a record until broken by Sourav Ganguly who completed with 21 Test wins.

“I have really fond memories of this city. Even though I haven’t played at this lovely ground, I have played at the old ground (Lal Bahadur Stadium) where I got a quick-fire 90 against India in one-day international. Those were lovely days. This is the city of Mohd Azharuddin, who for me is the best captain of this country. He was a shrewd leader,” Ranatunga was quoted as saying by the Telangana today.

“I made a visit to Tirupati with my friends when I was invited to come over here. I am thrilled to once again be in the city and visit the ground. As a politician, I don’t get that much time to visit grounds or watch a match. Hence it’s a great privilege for me to spend time at this lovely ground,” he further added.

The former heavily built southpaw appeared in 93 Tests and 269 ODI’s and led his nation to a sensation World Cup victory in 1996 when no one really gave them a chance. During his lecture, he advised young cricketers to be more committed towards the game.

“Whatever a young cricketer does, he should do it properly. There should be total commitment from him for the team’s cause. It’s a great honour to play for the country and a youngster should focus on representing the country rather than thinking of making money,” Ranatunga concluded.