Azharuddin made his Test and ODI debuts during England's 1984–85 tour of India. In Tests, he made centuries against all nations except West Indies and Zimbabwe. In his first Test appearance Azharuddin made 110, thus becoming the eighth Indian player to score a century on debut. With scores of 105 and 122 in the subsequent matches of the series, he became the first player to score a century in each of his first three Tests. Azharuddin equalled the record of Kapil Dev for the fastest century by an Indian in Test cricket, when he scored a century from 74 balls against South Africa in 1996. His highest score of 199 came against Sri Lanka at Kanpur in 1986. Azharuddin's 22 Test centuries were made at fifteen cricket grounds, nine of which were outside India. He scored a century in his last Test innings—against South Africa—in March 2000. As of July 2024, he is joint thirty-first among all-time century makers in Test cricket, and sixth in the equivalent list for India.
Azharuddin's first ODI century came two years after his debut when he made 108 against Sri Lanka. In 1987, he scored a 62-ball century against New Zealand at the Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara; the performance ensured India's victory and he was made the man of the match. His highest score of 153 not out was achieved in the later part of his career, against Zimbabwe, during which he was involved in a record partnership of 275 with Ajay Jadeja. Azharuddin made scores between 90 and 99 seven times during his ODI career.
Key
Azharuddin scored his maiden Test century at Eden Gardens; he went on to score four more centuries at the venue.
List of symbols, abbreviations along with their meanings
England
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Zimbabwe