Mohammad Azharuddin on IPL pre-match show. (TV grab)



Why is a confessed match fixer welcomed on a cricket show and treated like royalty? How is that even possible?

— Dirk Nannes (@dirk_nannes) May 11, 2016

Mohammad Azharuddin is making appearances at several media platforms to promote his biopic ‘Azhar’, slated to release this week. As part of the promotion campaign, Azharuddin was also appeared on Indian Premier League’s pre-match show Extraaa Innings.While his previous appearance on the IPL pe-match show went without any controversy, Azharuddin’s presence on Wednesday caught the attention of former Australian pacer Dirk Nannes, who expressed his astonishment on Twitter saying what a ‘self-confessed match-fixer’ was doing on a big and reputed cricket show.Mohammad Azharuddin has been on the show as one of the cricket experts, along with Emraan Hashmi, who played Azharuddin in the biopic. The biopic ‘Azhar’ is slated to release on the 13th of May and is produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Sony Pictures Networks. The movie features Nargis Fakhri and Prachi Desai as the two female leads.As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Azharuddin reportedly confessed that he had fixed three one-day matches; the first against South Africa at Rajkot in 1996, then Pepsi Cup matches in Sri Lanka in 1997 and Pakistan in 1999. But, he was subsequently quoted in an interview denying that he was involved in any such activity.As there is a lot of confusion regarding Azharuddin’s involvement in the infamous fixing episode, one can take cue from BCCI’s decision where Azhar was declared guilty as charged late in November 2001.It is difficult to say whether Nannes is right but his question seems genuine and is making people ponder about the same.