NEW DELHI, 29 April 2004 — Banned former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin has been omitted from a new pension scheme launched by the national board for former Test cricketers and umpires, an official said yesterday.
Azharuddin was one of four cricketers banned by the Indian cricket board following a match-fixing saga four years ago.
“For the moment, he has been ruled out (of the pension scheme) because he is fighting a case against the board in the court. The board will take a decision once the case is over,” board treasurer Jyoti Bajpai said.
The board’s newly-announced scheme grants a monthly pension of 5,000 rupees (about $113) to former Test players and umpires. Azharuddin, suspended for life in 2000 by the board, has challenged the ban in court.
All-rounders Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja were each suspended for five years, and batsman Ajay Sharma for life.
Jadeja, whose appeal against the ban was upheld by a court last year, was included in the pension scheme.
Azharuddin was India’s most successful captain with 14 Test victories before being surpassed by current skipper Saurav Ganguly, who led India to the 15th win in the third and final Test against Pakistan at Rawalpindi this month.
The stylish right-handed batsman scored 6,215 runs in 99 Tests and 9,378 in 334 One-Day Internationals.
Bajpai said the board had finalized a list of 174, including 12 umpires, for the scheme, which did not cover One-Day International cricketers and umpires.
“We will be paying them the pension as part of our platinum jubilee celebrations. The scheme starts this month,” he said.
