An innings that heralded yet another Phoenix-like comeback for the stylist par excellence of Indian cricket.

But then, that was only to be expected. Love him or hate him, the one thing you cannot do is ignore his claims to be the fittest, most combative, cricketer there is today.

A visibly more relaxed, less uptight Azhar spoke at length to rediff.com's Faisal Shariff on a variety of issues.

Here is destiny's child -- in his own words. In Real Audio

    How does it feel playing after a year's gap?
  Click here

    Do you think those three debut Test centuries happened too soon?
 Click here

    Your grandfather has been the most influential person in your life.
    What difference has he made to you as a person?
 Click here

    What, according to you, is the essence of captaincy?
 Click here

    Besides luck, which are the other factors you attribute to your
    success?
  Click here

    How would you assess yourself as a captain?
Click here

    When did you first meet Sachin Tendulkar? And what kind
   of a relationship do you share with him?
  Click here

    When Sachin was captain, you were completely on the offensive,
    what was the thinking behind that?
Click here



RELATED FEATURE:

The Rediff Cricket Interview/ Mohammad Azharuddin