On the morning of November 21, 2012, two influential cricket administrators – a businessman and a politician – as part of a pre-devised strategy stopped Mohammed Azharuddin’s formal entry into the BCCI, despite the Andhra Pradesh High Court rescinding his match-fixing-related life ban. The same evening the BCCI formally invited him to its annual awards function at Taj Mahal Hotel in the same city, Mumbai, by sending him a proper invitation card. That is how, in a nutshell, the BCCI has treated Azharuddin over the years – by ruthlessly employing carrot-and-stick formula.