The collar is still up, oakleys still firmly on his eyes, the delectable walk and of course. the flexy wrists. Mohammad Azharrudin is still the same. At the Siri Fort sports complex on Sunday, it wasn’t a test of his calibre as a batsman but his breezy, unbeaten 85 in 61 balls — studded with nine boundaries and one six — against the Parlimentarians won the match for his side, Raymond XI. And if that wasn’t enough, he took a wicket, effected a direct run-out standing at point and took a catch that ended the proceedings. “Yes, I had fun out there and I enjoy playing cricket,” he said dropping a hint that he might make more frequent appearances on the cricket field. Talking more on the game, the former India captain expressed his disappointment over the non-inclusion of Kaif in the team for the Mohali Test against Pakistan. ‘‘That’s disappointing. Kaif has played some very good innings on trying wickets. This kind of attitude can play with the confidence of a player. I want to tell Kaif not to lose heart, but to wait for his time. He’ll surely succeed.” Azhar also said that he would prefer his Hyderabad colleague VVS Laxman going in at No.3. “He scores quickly and is a class batsman. When you send him in at No. 5-6, there’s lot of pressure on him and it’s not always easy to play with tail-enders.” Azhar, however, was confident that the Indo-Pak series would be evenly contested. “India has a strong batting-line-up. but Pakistan too has some interesting young players in their ranks,” he said, adding that the absence of Shoaib Akhtar will not make any crucial difference. “Shoaib is good bowler but he needs to be consistent to be successful. Indian batsmen have played him before and they know what to expect.” On the last count, Azhar expressed happiness that four pace bowlers are in the squad for a home series. “It’s good to see pace bowlers getting their due. The most important thing is to pick your best bowlers for an important series, and they happen to be four pacers, then why not.”
