On This Day in 1985: Mohammad Azharuddin announced himself in Test cricket with a century

Mohammad Azharuddin was a delightful cricketer to watch. His batting oozed class, while his fielding was at a different level in those days.

The charismatic and somewhat controversial former India captain made his international debut on the final day of 1984, during a Test series against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

In his career, he has scored more than 15000 international runs comprised of 29 centuries across all formats. His magnificent use of wrists, traditional off-drives were a treat to watch, and the Eden crowd got the taste of his class on his first arrival.

On this day, back in 1985, Azharuddin scored a debut hundred against England. It was the third test of the series in Kolkata and the series was tied 1-1.

Azhar came in as a replacement:

Young Azharuddin made his debut as a replacement for Sandip Patil, who was dropped. India won the toss and captain Sunil Gavaskar decided to bat first. Both Gavaskar and another opener Anshuman Gaikwad fell early as India were 35 for 2.

Azharuddin came up with a debut brilliance:

Mohammed Azharuddin came at the crease after the fall of Mohinder Amarnath, as India were on 126 for 3. A set Dilip Vengsarkar departed soon after and young Azhar then stitched the India inning with Ravi Shashtri.

The match was rain-marred and Azhar showed his class on the 3rd day (the match was stopped on 1st January, 1985). He played some elegant drives along with flicks and wristy hits on the leg side as the Eden crowd embraced their new hero.

Azhar went on and dominated the English bowlers like Norman Cowans, and Phil Edmonds to get to his debut hundred. He scored 110 runs in his debut inning and got dismissed in the bowling of Cowans as David Gower took a catch at gully. Azhar took 322 balls to score 110 runs, which had 10 fours in it. Ravi Shashtri also went on to score a hundred as the match ended in a draw.

Azharuddin stats in that Series:

India went on to lose the 4th Test and lost the series 2-1, but they unearthed a gem in Mohammad Azharuddin. The Hyderabad batter scored 439 runs with an average of 109 in that series and went on to score two more hundreds. He was the highest run-scorer among the Indian batters despite playing just 3 out of the five matches.