Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

“Do you know I can read and write Telugu fluently? I can write the script as good as anyone else. I had a tuition teacher for my Telugu language,’’ Azharuddin said.

Hyderabad:

The magic, mystery and awe were unmistakable as Mohammad Azharuddin strolled into the Telangana Today newsroom on Tuesday evening. The white T-shirt with the collar up and light blue denims marked the legend’s customary style well-known to his lakhs of fans. Many journalists — some with generous amount of grey and some others much younger — greeted him with eager enthusiasm, bringing alive memories of his incredible batting many years ago.

The former Indian cricket team skipper went down memory lane with the effortless ease which he displayed in the wrist-flicks in his prime. Reminiscing his Vittawaldi days, he recalled those glorious times as an upcoming cricketer. “Do you know I can read and write Telugu fluently? I can write the script as good as anyone else. I had a tuition teacher for my Telugu language,’’ he said.

Azharuddin continued: “I miss those golden days. The roads were empty. It was easy to drive. But, now the traffic is so chaotic. Basically, the people are not disciplined. If told, they would disagree with you.’’

The former stylish cricketer said there could have been a better planning while constructing the metro rail. “It is in the middle of the road and the pillars are very dangerous. If you see in other countries, the metros are positioned to a side, away from the motor roads. It looks scary here.’’

He also revealed his love for the bikes. “I always liked ‘Jawa’, particularly the red ones. It had a royal look. We had a few in and around our streets in Himmayatnagar. Those days owning a Jawa or Yezdi was a big thing.’’

Going to his younger days as cricketer, he said he first played for Deccan Club. “I think I joined in 1977. I remember playing on the bumpy outfields of Parade grounds. It was horrific. We usually played without helmets. But it was enjoyable and there was a lot of camaraderie. I learnt my game from this ground. At times, it was challenging.’’

Azhar said he always enjoyed fielding. ”Somehow, fielding came naturally to me. I would attack the ball. We should be focused and should not shy away from the ball. You know, if a fielder is scared, the ball will chase you. I never flinched from hard work and I used to make it a point to put in extra hours in my training session for fielding.’’

In a lighter vein, he even cited the example of Indian women fielding better than their male counterparts. “In Champions Trophy, our fielders missed some easy run outs while the women ran out six batters in the World Cup,’’ he made a tongue-in-cheek statement.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com/ Telangana Today / Home> Sport / by N Jagannath Das / July 05th, 2017