After initial denial, former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin is likely to join the Congress on Thursday.
Azhar visited the Ajmer dargah on Wednesday and is expected to meet party President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.
Azhar will probably contest from one of the three constituencies falling in Hyderabad in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
He is likely to be projected as the Congress’ new Muslim face, to take on the All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen.
Azharuddin had denied earlier reports that he might either join or campaign for the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.
Those reports stemmed from an hour-long luncheon meeting the former captain had with TRS President K Chandrasekhar Rao at the home of an Urdu newspaper editor.
Despite his premature exit from the cricket following allegations of match fixing, Azharuddin still has a huge fan following.
Last year cricketer-turned-politician Dodda Ganesh and a close friend of Azhar — as the player is widely known — joined the Janata Dal Secular.
It was Azharuddin who reportedly advised Ganesh to join the JDS though he was being wooed by other national parties as well.
One of India’s most successful cricketers, Azharuddin’s innings came to an abrupt end after a disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) imposed a life ban on him in December 2000.
Azharuddin challenged the ban in a court. The case is dragging on. Azharuddin now runs a successful event management firm as well as a health club called Est.
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