Azhar, as he's fondly known, is the latest cricketer to be part of a league after Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli became the faces of Indian Super League's (ISL) Kerala and Goa franchises respectively. Azhar is the co-owner of the Punjab outfit in CTL.
Being a big fan of Czech legend Ivan Lendl, it was easy for Azhar to give his consent for being the co-owner of his friend Gurpreet Singh Kiki's team in CTL.
"This is a great opportunity for me to promote a sport like tennis. Not many players have visited India and Vijay (Amritraj) has done a tremendous job bringing such names to the country. I love watching Grand Slams and players like Maria Sharapova. I like to back young players like the one who beat Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon this year - Nick Kyrgios of Australia. This is why I chose to be part of this league," Azhar told TOI.
The 22-Test centurion was disappointed with India's showing on the England tour and felt coach Duncan Fletcher should have done more to lift the performances of players like Virat and Cheteshwar Pujara, who struggled throughout the series.
"If you get out 6-7 times to the same delivery then somebody needs to address the problem which is more mental than a lack of skill. You cannot face a delivery on bouncy tracks being stranded at the crease. It is a coach's job to tell the player where he's lacking, what is going wrong. If so many people on the tour can't find a solution to a player getting dismissed in a similar fashion, it's a big issue. Then there's something wrong with the management," the 51-year-old said.
Asked how can India prepare for a tough series against Australia later this year, Azhar said: "The management needs to differentiate between the players who can play Test cricket and one-day cricket. All the top teams have such an arrangement. One cannot just depend upon a certain Pujara to do well in Tests. All players need to be exceptionally good."
Azhar is of the opinion that like England, South Africa and West Indies - the nation should have three captains in all the three formats.
"There are some players only meant to play Tests and some only for One-Day cricket. So its better we have different captains for different formats. Sometimes one person cannot concentrate on three things at one point of time, so this will help him focus better," said the cricketer-turned-politician.
So, does India have a Test skipper ready to fill in MS Dhoni's big shoes.
"We have to find one. You don't get anything readymade. You need to give someone a chance, unless you do that how will you know who is better suited for the job," said India's most successful Test skipper (14 Test wins) before Sourav Ganguly (21).
"If I were a selector I would pick Virat Kohli. He's a good player, he's not done well recently but if you don't give responsibility to a player how will you know if he can perform," Azhar added.
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