Hyd stalwart Azeem no more

Hyderabad: Hyderabad cricket lost a stalwart with the passing away of Abdul Azeem here on Tuesday night. The 63-year-old Azeem had undergone a kidney transplant a few months ago. But he never completely recovered from it and had taken ill a couple of days ago. On the advice of the doctors, Azeem was brought home on Tuesday and the end came late in the evening. The burial will take place on Wednesday. Former Hyderabad players mourned the untimely death of Azeem. Former BCCI president and Test cricketer N Shivlal Yadav said it was a big loss for the game. “It is a personal loss for me as I have played a lot of cricket with him,” he said.Azeem, a right-handed opener, dominated bowling attacks on the domestic circuit with his attacking instincts and defined an attacking opener’s role much before the likes of K Srikkanth, Mark Greatbatch and Romesh Kaluwitharana set the international scene alight. Blessed with a quick eye, the nature of the pitch or the opposition never mattered to Azeem as he went about his task of demolishing the rival attacks.Azeem was the first player from South Zone and the seventh Indian to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy (versus Tamil Nadu in 1986). In his 15-year-career for Hyderabad, Azeem scored 4644 first-class runs with a best of 303 not out. He scored 12 centuries. Azeem was also a part of the Hyderabad team that posted a record 944 for six declared — the highest score in Ranji Trophy — against Andhra in 1993-94, when he smashed 85, while the late MV Sridhar (366), Vivek Jaisimha (211) and Noel David (207 not out) piled it on.After retirement, he was involved with the game as a coach, selector and mentor. In September 2014, he was named coach of the Hyderabad team. In November 2018, Azeem left the junior selection committee saying that procedures were not being followed. The soft-spoken Azeem belongs to the breed of gentlemen who graced the cricket field and enriched the sport not only with their game but also their demeanour off the field.
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