Agency     
 

MUMBAI, Oct 21: Mohammad Azharuddin, the man responsible for the ongoing war of words between the Board for Control of Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council, said he would be present at the BCCI awards function on November 4.

Delighted by the firm stand taken by the BCCI against the ICC, the former India captain said: “I have the invite and it will be a great privilege to be with cricketing greats of the country. I thank the Board for its stand and invitation.”

Azhar said he is grateful to a lot of people. “There are many people who I should be grateful to and among them are Raj Singh Dungarpur and my former skipper Kapil Dev. Rajbhai and Kapil have always been by my side in  difficult times. Their moral support has kept me going.”

Azhar thanked his wife Sangeeta too. “My wife and my family members were very supportive and their prayers have been answered,” he told DNA from Hyderabad. He then went on to add: “It was the will of the Almighty. All tough things in life come to an end. I have always been positive and there it is. I don’t live in the past I look forward for better things in life. This positive thinking has helped me in many ways.”

Azhar said he is looking forward to the BCCI function where he will be felicitated along with the former captains of the country.

When asked if he would approach ICC, given the new process where banned players need to send a request to the world body’s CEO for revoking the sentence, Azhar merely said: “I have not heard about this and I don’t want to comment on it.”

ICC prefers Bollywood flavour, BCCI sticks to its stars

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the two functions will be as different as chalk from cheese. The ICC nite will have all the Bollywood flavour while the BCCI function will be confined to cricketers.

“We’ve enough stars amidst us. We don’t need film stars,” said BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah. The BCCI nite will be held at the Wankhede Stadium where the CK Nayudu awards will be presented. The Board also will felicitate the past captains and presidents.

But ICC said its ceremony  — where annual cricket awards will be presented — will surely include the Bollywood masala. “We’re holding the function in the entertainment capital of India, we can’t overlook the Bollywood,” said an ICC spokesman. “It will be a mix of Bollywood and cricket.”

Wizcraft, the event manager of the ICC function, promised overwhelming presence of the Bollywood stars on November 3. “It will be a glittering night with most of the top stars of the Hindi film industry,” said its spokesman.