Mohammad Azharuddin

Full Name: Mohammad Azharuddin
Born: 8th of February, 1968, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), India
Full Name: Mohammad Azharuddin
Born: February 8, 1963, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Major teams: India, Derbyshire, Hyderabad
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Achievements:

• Scored 22 centuries in Test Cricket with an average score of 45 runs.
• Scored 7 centuries in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with an average of 37 runs.
• Has been the only player to have hit three consecutive centuries in first three Tests
• Has been the only player in the world Cricket to have taken 156 catches in One Day International (ODI) Cricket
• Got India 14 Test and 103 ODI wins during his captainship, making him one of the most successful Cricket captains India has ever got
• Has scored fastest ODI century by an Indian off 62 balls
• The first player to have played more than 300 ODIs
• Was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1991

Early Life
Mohammad Azharuddin, one of the best known players and captains the Indian Cricket team has ever had, was born and brought up in Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra Pradesh. He studied in a Catholic convent school named All Saints High School, which has been the Alma Mater to some other prominent Indian Cricketers too, including Venkatapathy Raju and Noel David.

The Batting Maestro
Azharuddin has been most famous for his wonderful wrist flicks that transformed a Cricket match into a poetic creation with aesthetic nuances of a masterpiece. Eventually, Azharuddin showed the best of his batting capabilities against spin bowlers. In fact, John Woodcock, one of the well known Cricket writers had once quoted that asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby! His smooth and clean batting style was often compared with the same of David Gower, a batsman from England.

Darker Side of the Story
But as every story has its dark twists, Azharuddin’s life too saw its bad moments. Hansie Croje, the captain of the South African Cricket team who had confessed his role in international match fixing, had taken Azharuddin’s name regarding his involvement in the scandal. Further, Central Bureau of Investigation, the prime investigation agency of India looked into the matter and found Azharuddin guilty of receiving money from bookies to fix Cricket matches. The CBI also found Azharuddin involved in bringing other players along with him into the dirty game, and as a consequence the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned Azharuddin from playing Cricket for his lifetime in the year 2000. Ironically, Azharuddin had played 99 Test Cricket matches in his life till then and was on the verge to enter the coveted 100 Test Cricket Club. Although the ban was lifted in the year 2006, he couldn’t make the dream come true.

Political Foray
On the 19th of February 2009, Azharuddin formally joined the Indian National Congress Party. He contested the General Elections 2009 from the Moradabad seat in Uttar Pradesh  and is now a Member of Parliament. 

Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly made his entry into this world on July 08, 1973 in Calcutta, the ‘City of Joy’, now Kolkata. He was born into a sports loving family and was the second of two sons born to Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly. He was born into immense wealth, unlike many Indian cricketers, with the exception of royalty. His parents gave him the nickname of ‘Maharaj’ meaning ‘Prince’. Perhaps, they knew that their son was born to lead.

Sourav’s father, Chandidas Ganguly runs a flourishing printing business, the 3rd largest in Asia, that has helped make the Gangulys among the 5 richest in Kolkata.  Even  today, Dada's

father is one of the major barons in the printing business in Kolkata. His palatial, joint-family home which has nearly 30 members in the Kolkata suburb of Behala has more than 45 rooms. There is suggestion of affluence everything in the Ganaguly household, from the palatial 4-storey building itself to the beautifully decorated rooms. The annual turnover of Sourav's family is nearly 80 crores, with just a profit of 40 crores!

As a child, Sourav was extremely mischievous, a typical Cancerian one could say.  His brother Snehashish (nicknamed Raj) was born five years before him and became an accomplished left handed batsman. Though Sourav is a natural right hander, he learned to bat with his left hand from his brother, Snehashish. Sourav does everything else, including writing and bowling with his right hand.  Convenience was one of the reasons for Sourav to become a left-handed batsman as he could then use his brother's cricket gear.

For someone who is one of the best cricketers of contemporary times, it would come as a surprise to many of Sourav’s fans that cricket was not his first love. Like all people who dwell in the city of Kolkata, Sourav’s first sporting passion was football. But like most Indian kids, he had to make the difficult choice between academics and sport and his mother wasn’t very supportive of Sourav taking up cricket or any sport as a career. But Snehashish, who was an established cricketer for Bengal only strengthened his brother’s resolve to be a cricketer and he asked his father to get Sourav enrolled in a cricket coaching camp during Sourav's class ten holidays.

For a young man who used his brother's cricket gear during practice, it was indeed ironical that he replaced his brother in the Bengal cricket team and consequently, Snehashish was dropped. And thus, Sourav began a glorious cricketing career.

Sourav made his debut in international cricket way back in 1992 during a tour Down Under. But unfortunately, the 19-year old played in just one match against West Indies at Brisbane in which he failed to make an impression, and hence, was dropped from the side. A young Sourav had to face more than just the frustration of being dropped after one opportunity. Rumors of his attitude problems and lack of respect for the senior players hurt Sourav the most. There were also reports in certain newspapers that Sourav refused to carry drinks on the field for a senior cricketer, which he denies till date. He was given a raw deal on his first tour when some prominent cricketers tagged him to be ‘arrogant’ and a ‘

boy with no cricketing talent’. He was ignored for well over four years and many thought that his days as an international cricketer were numbered.

A few years later, however, Sourav came back strong and more determined than ever to make his mark in the world of cricket. He made his debut along with his good friend and now vice captain, Rahul Dravid in the 2nd test vs. England at Lord’s.  Sourav amazed cricketers and critics alike when he smashed a century in his debut Test.

He went on to score a century in the very next innings as well. More success came his way when Sourav was named ‘man of the series’ in his Debut. Weeks after his successful tour of England, Sourav eloped with childhood sweetheart Dona Roy. All hell broke lose when the the families of Sourav and Dona heard learnt about the secret wedding. However, both families reconciled and a formal wedding was held in February 1997. Happily married, Sourav and Dona are proud parents of a girl named Sana, born in November 2001.

Sourav hasn’t looked back since his debut and today, he has many records to his name including that of the highest score in a World Cup and is the 2nd highest century getter in ODI after teammate Sachin Tendulkar. He is also referred to as 'the golden arm' in the Indian team as his gentle medium pace bowling has given India many a vital breakthrough in one-day cricket. In Test matches today, he, Rahul Dravid and the great Tendulkar form the core of the Indian batting line up. 

This man is revered in his home town where he enjoys a God like status. But that is the price one has to pay for being a celebrity in India. If people in Kolkata come to know that Sourav is home, there is a huge crowd that gathers at the gate of his palatial home. As likeable as he is, Sourav also has been firm enough to let overbearing fans and prying media persons know that he deserves and needs his share of privacy. Sourav prefers a quiet evening alone with his wife rather than have photographers and lensmen chasing him all over Kolkata. Sourav is also a deeply religious person and observes a fast every Tuesday.

No one had thought that a lad ridiculed as a non talent, brushed off as being high headed, accused of showing disrespect towards seniors and having attitude problems would one day lead the Indian cricket team. Yet, Sourav Ganguly is now in the hot seat as the captain of the Indian Cricket team. Sourav was appointed as captain when Sachin Tendulkar, shocked everyone by stepping down from his captaincy after India’s disastrous tour Down Under in 1999. As vice captain to Tendulkar, Sourav was the most obvious choice.

Sourav began well as captain, leading India to a series win over South Africa in the 5 match one day series. He really

started coming into his own as the leader of the Indian Team in the ICC Knockout trophy, where he led India to the finals.

Sourav felt that every young player should play two years of domestic cricket before being selected for international assignments. He also said that every newcomer should be given at least five games to prove himself. Perhaps, he being at a receiving end of a raw deal that threatened to ruin his international cricket career enabled Sourav to understand the insecurities of other newcomers in the team better than his predecessors. Sourav backed the youngsters in the team tremendously and thus, gained the love of his teammates.

Sourav also was not shy of taking on responsibility. He showed that he can be a leader of a team, which has greats like Sachin and Dravid in the side, without any problems. Under Sourav's leadership, India got back the winning habit which the team had forgotten.

Today, Sourav Ganguly is the most successful Indian captain leaving Mohammed Azharuddin’s previous record of 14 test wins behind. Sourav has won 21 Tests as captain, of which more than 7 wins have come overseas! His success rate is an amazing 42%, the highest ever by an Indian captain.

Under his captaincy, the Indian team achieved remarkable heights, including the Test series win against  Australia  at home in 2001, reaching the World Cup Final in 2003, and winning both the one-day and Test series in Pakistan in 2004.  

In just a few years, Sourav rewrote the rules of captaincy. Unlike some of his predecessors, he was impartial, non-parochial, and forever pushed his players to perform better. Off the field, Sourav’s interactions with the media, his fans, and detractors were uncompromisingly honest and earned him the respect of cricket followers everywhere. His 5-year reign

as India's most successful skipper came to an end in October 2005 when vice-captain Rahul Dravid was given the hot seat. 

 

Sourav Ganguly is not just the ‘Prince of Calcutta’ but he is also the ‘Monarch of Indian Cricket’. 

Kapildev

Kapildev

Full Name: Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj
Born: January 6, 1959, Chandigarh
Major teams: India, Haryana, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

Achievements:

• Captained India to World Cup victory in 1983
• Broke Richard Hadlee's record of 431 wickets in Test cricket
• Scored first ODI century by an Indian
• Only cricketer to score 4,000 Test runs and take 400 wickets
• Named Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj has been a Indian Cricket player, and is said to be one of the all time greatest all-rounders to have existed in the world of Cricket. Kapil also served the Indian Cricket team as its Captain, and is famous for being the only Captain of the Indian Cricket team that led it to win a World Cup Cricket Trophy in the year 1983.

Early Life
Kapil Dev was born on the 6th of January 1959 at Chandigarh, India. He began his Cricket career in Domestic Cricket from the Haryana team, with a match played against Punjab team in November 1975. Kapil took 6 wickets in the match and helped Haryana to win the match.

Domestic Cricket Career
Kapil gave his best performance of his initial times in a match against Bengal, in which he took 7 wickets giving only 20 runs within just 9 overs in the second innings. Although Haryana was beat by Bombay team in the quarterfinals, his performance brought his talent under the limelight.

Debut
He debuted the Test Cricket with a match played against Pakistan at Faisalabad in the year 1978. During the 3rd Test match played at Karachi, he scored the fasted half-century made by any Indian cricketer off just 33 balls.

Kapil’s One Day International (ODI) debut was made on 1st of October 1978 in a match played against Pakistan at Quetta. He scored 13 runs and took 1 wicket giving 27 runs in the match.

Captaincy
He was made the Captain of the Indian Cricket team in the year 1982-83 for a match against Sri Lanka. He began as a regular Captain of the team with the tour of West Indies.

World Cup 1983
During the 1983 World Cup, Kapil scored a huge 175 runs off 138 balls against a crucial match against Zimbabwe. India won this match by 31 runs and went on to win its only World Cup Trophy. This innings played by Kapil has been regarded as one of the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances of all times by the Wisden magazine.

After the World Cup victory, the Indian team lost its grip and faced some bad defeats due to which Kapil was removed from the Captain’s seat and Sunil Gavaskar again became the Captain in the year 1984. Again in March 1985 Kapil got the Captaincy back and led India to World Cup 1987. India lost to Australia in the Semi-Finals, and Kapil’s Captaincy came to a permanent end.

Vital Statistics
In his Test Cricket career, Kapil Dev played 131 Test matches in which he scored 5248 runs with a Batting Average of 31.05 runs. His highest score was 163 runs. As far as bowling is concerned, he took 434 wickets in the Test Cricket, and gave away 12867 runs with an average of 29.64 runs.

Kapil played 225 ODI matches throughout his career, and scored 3783 runs with an average of 23.79 runs, his highest score being 175 not out. He took 252 wickets, and gave 6945 runs with an average of 27.45 runs in his ODI career.

Kapil served as the Coach of the Indian Cricket team between October 1999 and August 2000, but resigned after match fixing allegations were imposed upon him. The Wisden magazine named him the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002, and has been conferred upon with Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards by the Government of India.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Full Name: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Born: July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Major teams: India, Jharkhand
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Fielding Position: Wicketkeeper

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the best known Indian Cricket players, who was made the Captain of the Indian Cricket team in the year 2007. One of the most flamboyant Indian Cricket stars ever, Dhoni is also fondly known as Mahi by the huge number of his fans particularly comprising of a big percentage of females. And not only his looks and style Dhoni equally proved to be a hard hitting batsman and one of the best Captains the Indian Cricket team has ever seen. 

Early Days 

Dhoni was born in Ranchi, the state capital of Jharkhand on the 7th of July 1981, and was brought up in the same city. His parents originally hailed from a village in Uttarakhand. In his childhood Dhoni played Badminton and Football, and was sent by his Football coach to play Cricket. He began the journey as the wicketkeeper at the Commando Cricket Club in the year 1995, and was selected for the Under-16 Vinoo Mankad Trophy in the year 1997-98. 

The Beginning 

Dhoni entered the Bihar Cricket team in the year 1998-99, and was further selected for the India-A Cricket team in the year 2004. Later the same year, he made his debut in the National Cricket team of India. 

The Charisma Begins 

In his 5th One Day International (ODI) Cricket match against Pakistan, Dhoni scored 148 runs which was the biggest score made by an Indian wicketkeeper till then. He managed to accomplish this score just off 123 balls in the match played at Vishakhapatnam on the 5th of April 2005. Later the same year, he scored 183 not out against Sri Lanka in the Bi-lateral One Day International (ODI) Series, outclassing his own record. This match was played at Jaipur and India had to outsmart a huge 299 runs score set by the Sri Lankans. Dhoni got India this great victory with his wonderful 183 runs within just 145 balls. This score set a yet another record for being the highest score made in the second innings of a One Day International (ODI) Cricket match, and still lies unbeaten by any other batsman. At the end of the Series, Dhoni finished with highest total score of 346 runs and grabbed the coveted Man of the Series award. 

He scored good number of runs in a consistent manner for a period of time, and soon grabbed the No. 1 position in the One Day International (ODI) Cricket rankings issued by International Cricket Council (ICC) in the year 2005-06. 

The Low Down Phase 

The Indian Cricket team lost its grip during the year 2006-07, as the team lost in the DLF Cup 2006-07, and again in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. Although, Dhoni tried to maintain his record a bit by half century against West Indies. This was a low phase both for the Indian Cricket team and Dhoni, as the wicketkeeper batsman could just score 139 runs in the 4 matches during the One Day International (ODI) Cricket Series against South Africa, and the Indian team lost the Series to South Africa by 0-4. 

Again, in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, India badly lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and was ousted from the tournament. In both the matches, Dhoni lost at duck (0 runs), and scored a total of 29 runs in the whole tournament. 

The Fighter Bounces Back 

But he soon emerged as a winner again after the World Cup nightmare, and scored 91 runs not against Bangladesh in a Series later and 174 runs in 3 matches during the Afro-Asia Cup with an average of 87.00 runs. 

Finally, the Leader 

He was named the Vice Captain of the Indian One Day International (ODI) Cricket team during a Series against South Africa in Ireland, and the Captain of the team during the Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup played in September 2007. On 24th of September 2007, Dhoni got India its second World Cup victory in the breath-taking finals against Pakistan, and equaled the rare feat of leading India to a World Cup Cricket Trophy achieved by Kapil Dev in the year 1983. 

  

MF Hussain

Born: September 17, 1915

Achievement: World famous painter; Recipient of Padma Shree

One can love MF Hussain or one can hate MF Hussain but one cannot ignore him. MF Husain is always in the news because of one controversy or the other. Maqbool Fida Hussain (MF Hussain ) is a world famous painter and an icon among Indian artists.

MF Hussain was born on September 17, 1915 in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. He lost his mother when he was one and a half years old. Husain's father remarried and moved to Indoor. MF Hussain did his schooling from Indore. In 1935, MF Hussain moved to Bombay and joined Sir J. J. School of Art.

He started off by painting cinema hoardings. He first came into limelight as painter in the late 1940s. In 1952, MF Hussain's first solo exhibition was held at Zurich and soon he became popular in Europe and USA. He went on to become one of the highest paid painters in India. His paintings have fetched millions of dollars at the auction.

In 1966, MF Hussain was honored with Padma Shree by the Government of India. In 1967, MF Hussain made his first film "Through the Eyes of a Painter". The film was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won a Golden Bear. He has also made two Hindi movies, "Gaja Gamini" and "Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities."

MF Hussain also had his share of controversies. Many a times he has been charged with hurting sentiments of people because of his nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses. But he continues to enthrall people with his peerless artistry.

APJ Abdul Kalam

 

Born - 15 October 1931

Achievements - This eminent scientist and engineer has also served as the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to 2007. APJ Abdul Kalam is a man of vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the country. He firmly believes that India needs to play a more assertive role in international relations. 

Apart from being a notable scientist and engineer, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam served as the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to 2007. He is a man of vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the country and is also often also referred to as the Missile Man of India. People loved and respected Dr APJ Abdul Kalam so much during his tenure as President that was popularly called the People's President. Read more about the biography of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam here.

APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 at the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and received honorary doctorates from about 30 universities globally. In the year 1981, the Government of India presented him the nation's highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan and then again, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the Bharat Ratna in 1997. Before Kalam, there have been only two presidents - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain - to have received the Bharat Ratna before bring appointed to the highest office in India.

Read on about the life history of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who's also the first scientist and bachelor to occupy the seat of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. His perspectives on important topics have been enunciated by him in the book 'India 2020'. It highlights the action plans that will help develop the country into a knowledge superpower by the time 2020. One thing for which he received ample kudos is his unambiguous statement that India needs to play a more assertive role in international relations.

And Dr APJ Abdul Kalam regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower. Even during his tenure as President, APJ Kalam took avid interest in the spheres of India's science and technology. He has even put forward a project plan for establishing bio-implants. He is also an ardent advocate of open source software over proprietary solutions to churn out more profits in the field of information technology in India.

Vidya Balan

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan was the quintessence of an Indian woman in Parineeta, a well-deserved break for the actress.

Vidya
Vidya Balan is a Tamil Iyer born on 1 January 1978 in Palakkad, Kerala. Her father is P.R.Balan who is the vice president of ETC channel while her mother is a homemaker. She has an older sister, Priya.

She studied in Mumbai at St Anthony’s School and later graduated in Sociology from St Xavier’s College, after which she enrolled for M.A from the Mumbai University. She speaks several languages like Tamil, Malayalam, English, Hindi, and Bengali.

Pradeep Sarkar directed her in many ads as well as music videos for singers like Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal, and Pankaj Udhas. She was also part of the initial episodes of Ekta Kapoor’s Hum Paanch.

Balan has been linked with several of her co-stars which she has denied.

Lolita
Vidya Balan’s initial entry into movies in the South went nowhere. The first Malayalam movie that she signed was with Mohanlal called Chakram that was put on hold and later resumed with a different lead. She was replaced by Trisha Krishnan in Manasellam, a Tamil movie.

It was only in 2003 that she was recognized for her acting skills in a Bengali movie Bhalo Theko, for which she won the Anandalok Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Anandi.

In 2005, she starred in Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta based on a novella by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, as Lolita. Her performance won her the Filmfare Best Debut Actress Award as well as the Filmfare Face of the Year. Lage Raho Munnabhai, the sequel to the runaway hit Munnabhai, saw her as Jhanvi.

In 2007, she marked her presence in Guru as a woman with a physical disability. Her other releases were Salaam-e-Ishq with John Abraham, Eklavya that was India’s official entry to the Oscars, and Bhool Bhulaiyya with Akshay Kumar that was a remake of the Malayalam movie Manichitrathazu.

Kismat Konnection in 2008 starring Vidya Balan and Shahid Kapoor failed to do well.

Paa was her only release in 2009 and it was a hit. Balan’s performance as a new age woman was appreciated. She played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in this movie.

Up Next
 Her other releases include Chenab Gandhi and Mukti. She will be playing the part of Sabrina Lal in No One Killed Jessica.