Did Sachin Tendulkar quit captaincy due to Mohammad Azharuddin? Vinod Kambli says ‘yes’

A recent report published in ABP Majha raised the same question all over again; was Azhar the reason behind Tendulkar’s decision to quit captaincy? And there came the answer, in affirmative, from none other than Kambli.

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin is making news these days due to the release of a biopic on his life – ‘Azhar’. The movie, which released on Friday, May 13th, showed Azhar’s version of his story; his meteoric rise in cricket, the captaincy of Indian team and the downfall due to involvement in the match-fixing scandal.

Though the makers have taken the cinematic liberty and included a lot of fiction and drama in the narrative, the movie still is largely based on events that happened in Azhar’s life. It was his downfall which coincided with Sachin Tendulkar’s rise to the role of captaincy. And though Tendulkar’s first stint with the captaincy was not fruitful, he was handed over the reins once again in the late 90’s.

It was then during India’s tour to Australia that rumours of Azharuddin making a comeback to the side started doing the rounds after Team India’s poor show. Around the same time, Tendulkar quit the captaincy and there were speculations that Azhar was the reason behind it. A recent report published in ABP Majha raised the same question all over again; was Azhar the reason behind Tendulkar’s decision to quit captaincy? And there came the answer, in affirmative, from none other than Vinod Kambli.

अझरमुळेच सचिनने कर्णधारपद सोडलं ? https://t.co/9WR8ECGE6Z pic.twitter.com/OprcaOMOrG

— ABP माझा (@abpmajhatv) May 14, 2016

Yes it’s true.I am witness to it.
https://t.co/K5vcQwWJVE

— VINOD KAMBLI (@vinodkambli349) May 14, 2016

In the past too Kambli has levelled serious allegations on Azhar when he said that during the famous 1996 World Cup semi-final match against Sri Lanka, which India lost in a painful manner; Azhar had behaved in a suspicious manner. Kambli was a part of the team during those years and has witnessed everything from close quarters. Thus his revelation cannot be rubbished out rightly and deserves a hearing.