On this day: Mohammad Azharuddin announces his arrival in style

In his 99-Test career, Mohammad Azharuddin played a bunch of memorable innings and led the Indian team exceptionally. Though eventually, his image was ruined due to his alleged match-fixing involvements. Still, nothing of that takes away the credit from him for being one of the most elegant and classy cricketers India has ever produced.

On his day, Azharuddin could cut, pull, and flick one without breaking a sweat and he showed that as early as on his debut. On this day in 1985, he scored his first Test century against England at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

India were playing the third of the 5-Test series against England, and debutant Azharuddin was slated to come in at No. 5. India played at a snail’s pace and had reached 126-3 when he walked in. Dilip Vengsarkar’s wicket brought Ravi Shastri in the middle, and India went incredibly slow to end Day 1 on 168 for 4. A combination of rain and smog meant that only 20 minutes of play was possible on Day 2. India could add merely 8 more runs to their tally without losing a wicket.

Century on debut

After the rest day, play finally resumed on Day 3 with Azhar and Shastri continuing to block everything. The pair added 100 runs in a period that seemed like ages. Amidst all this, Azhar did manage to play a few wristy strokes, showing a glimpse of what he would go on to do with immense consistency in the years to follow. He eventually reached the three-figure mark in his first-ever innings, and the crowd stood up to applaud the debutant on his unique feat.

Their partnership came to an end when Azhar was caught at gully for 110 off 322 en route to their 214-run partnership that took seven hours. Shastri too completed his century and remained unbeaten at the end of the day.

The match ended in a sleepy draw as England were bowled out for 276 after India declared at 437-7. Azhar scored a century in the fourth and fifth Test of the series too, becoming the first and only player to date to score three centuries in his first three Tests.