Being named after former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin, Kerala’s opener Mohammed Azharuddeen has been in limelight for his heroics in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 2020-21.
The youngster played an unbeaten innings of 137 runs off 54 balls that helped Kerala defeat Mumbai by 8 wickets at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
From his name to his career option, everything to do with Azharuddeen was decided by his elder brother Kamaruddeen, who was die-hard fan of the former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
When asked whether he has ever met the batting great Mohammed Azharuddin, the 26-year-old revealed that he had a conversation with the former captain once or twice during the Ranji games and said that he didn’t follow Azharuddin like his elder brother.
"I have met him like twice or thrice. Once in my hometown and once in Hyderabad when we were there to play Ranji Trophy and he was the head coach of Hyderabad. I shared the story of how I was named after him with Mohd Azharuddin sir. To be frank, like my elder brother, I did not follow Azharuddin sir. I have just watched a few videos of his on Youtube," said Mohammed Azharuddeen.
Former Kerala coach, Dav Whatmor dropped down a regular opener Azharuddeen in middle order, which he felt was not a good slot for him to bat.
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"I am an opener. After Dav Whatmore came as coach he made me a middle-order player. I came down the order due to team requirements. It was not a good slot for me. I just requested the coach (Tinu Yohannan) to allow me to bat in the right slot, which is opening,” he said.
"I like to hit straight. One of my strengths is hitting straight. I am good at hitting straight, against fast bowling and spin bowling. It was a true wicket (in the game against Mumbai) and I batted with confidence," he added.
Mohammed Azharuddeen, who is a big fan of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni further said that he isn’t worried about getting picked for the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he is in a very good head space and is just focusing on his games in SMAT.
“I am in a good zone. I am not worried about the IPL auction or something. I am just concentrating on our fourth match against Andhra,” he said.
The right-handed batsman has although set some goals for himself, referring to which he said
“There are some goals, play IPL, score a few hundreds in Ranji trophy. I (made my) debut in 2015, I didn't get a chance to bat in top-order. Now I am clear about how to approach my batting, clear in my mind," he concluded.
(PTI Inputs)
