Status increased in captaincy, taint of fixing, cricketer left behind in cocktail of 3 weddings

New Delhi. There were many captains in Indian cricket in the 90s, but hardly anyone else had the status, magic and charisma of Mohammad Azharuddin. Coming from a very ordinary and simple background, Azhar, who scored three consecutive centuries in his first three innings of Test cricket, had made the whole world his admirer. But his life was not limited to just cricket runs and captaincy. Azhar’s personal life was a cocktail of love, disputes, romance, divorce and marriages, which kept him at the center of controversies and headlines more than on the field.

Mohammad Azharuddin’s first love was not a film personality, but a very beautiful and simplicity-loving girl, Naureen, who lived near his house. In the year 1987, when Azhar had become the country’s favorite cricketer, he got married to 16 year old Naureen. At that time, Azhar was considered an example of an ideal son, loyal husband and loving father. Naureen handled the responsibility of Azhar’s family and two sons with great simplicity. In an interview given in June 1995, Azhar had said that their marriage was the most memorable moment of his life and both of them were very happy. But fate had something else in store. Within just a year of this interview, this strong 9 year old relationship started cracking.

Bollywood romance with Sangeeta Bijlani
Famous Bollywood model and actress Sangeeta Bijlani entered Azhar’s life. This closeness that started during the shooting of an advertisement soon turned into the biggest affair of the 90s. Arrested in love for Sangeeta, Azhar even stopped going to Hyderabad. When Azhar took Sangeeta with him on the England tour in 1996 and the pressure of marriage increased, Azhar divorced Naureen. Although Azhar’s parents stood by Naureen till the end, Naureen’s dreams were shattered. On 14 November 1996, both of them got married secretly by calling the registrar at their home in Khar, Mumbai. Just before marriage, Sangeeta became ‘Ayesha Begum’. However, this relationship of glamor and love also did not last long.

Jwala Gatta’s shadow and second divorce
The final rift in Azhar and Sangeeta’s relationship came when Azhar’s name started being linked with Indian badminton star Jwala Gatta. Although both Azhar and Jwala termed these reports as rumors and called it only an acquaintance and help, but Sangeeta did not accept this situation. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Sangeeta went to Moradabad and campaigned for Azhar, but the internal discord kept increasing. Finally, after 14 years of marriage, in the year 2010, both of them filed a divorce petition in the court and they got divorced.

Third marriage and political journey
Even after his separation from Sangeeta, Azhar’s personal life remained in the news. In 2013, he was seen with Shannon Marie in Paris, whose pictures went viral. After initial denial, it is believed that between 2015 and 2017, Azhar allegedly got married for the third time to Shannon Marie. Azharuddin tweeted, ‘The news of my third marriage is wrong and false. Please check the news before publishing or broadcasting it. There were reports in a section of the media about his marriage to his American girlfriend Shannon Marie, after which Azharuddin had to come forward to refute. A news published in a newspaper said that when Azharuddin went to his driver Jaan Mohammed’s house in Mumbai on Saturday to condole his death, he introduced Shannon as his wife.

From the glamor of cricket to the dark shadows of fixing, the life of Mohammad Azharuddin, who became MP from Moradabad in 2009 after being acquitted by the court and then played his second innings as a senior leader of Telangana Congress, shows that no matter how much success a person achieves in the world, the search for loyalty and peace in matters of the heart often remains a mirage.