An exciting century towards Mumbai within the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy final month has bought Kerala participant Mohammed Azharuddeen observed in home cricket circles as he has already captured a spot within the precedence lists of IPL franchises for the public sale scheduled on February 18.
In the Elite E match on January 13, Azharuddeen smashed 137 runs off simply 54 balls, together with 9 fours and 11 sixes, serving to Kerala rating a simple win over Mumbai by eight wickets. His century got here off simply 37 balls.
He opened the innings for Kerala and gave the group a fast begin by hitting India pacer Dhawal Kulkarni and IPL 2020’s new star Tushar Deshpande over the fence to assist Kerala chase 196 with 4.1 overs to spare. It was the third-fastest T20 century by an Indian after Rishabh Pant (32 balls) and Rohit Sharma (35 balls).
This week, in an interview with iemalayalam.com, Azharuddeen mentioned that his knock made him extra assured and accountable as a batsman. “Pressure is there even after we play on the paddy fields. It’s at all times there. But that century (towards Mumbai) gave me extra confidence. It made me extra accountable.
“My coaches asked me to be more careful, that we can’t take it for granted. Then, it would feel like over-confidence. I want to enjoy batting and leading my team to victory. That’s the only thing on my mind,” he mentioned.
Quite a lot of information had been damaged with Azharuddeen’s knock towards Mumbai. He is the primary batsman from Kerala to attain a century within the T20 format. His was the second-fastest ton by a batsman within the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy and the third joint-fastest T20 century by an Indian batsman. He additionally helped Kerala register its first home win over Mumbai, throughout all codecs.
Mohammed Azharuddeen with senior Kerela bowler S Sreesanth. (Instagram)
About his probabilities of being picked by an IPL group and ultimately enjoying within the event, Azharuddeen mentioned, “Any decision, whether it’s positive or negative, is not likely to affect my life and career. I have done my best. The rest is not under my control. It doesn’t matter if I don’t get a chance. My ultimate goal is to give my best for the Kerala team.”
When requested about his dream, he added, “Opening an innings with Virat Kohli.”
Despite the nice present with the bat, the right-handed batsman shouldn’t be totally glad together with his efficiency within the collection. “I could have done better. Even though, I got a good start in a few innings, I lost my wickets. I could have converted those innings into good scores and it would have helped my team as well,” he mentioned.
A bucket listing of Azharuddeen had additionally gone viral on social media. “IPL, own house, Benz car, 2023 World Cup,” the listing of needs of the 26-year-old goes on.
“During the lockdown, I got more time at home. It was then that my dreams became more clear and I just wrote in a paper. My dreams are long-term,” he mentioned.
Mohammed Azharuddeen’s bucket listing at his home. (YouTube/ManoramaNews)
Azharuddeen mentioned the presence of seniors like Robin Uthappa and S Sreesanth was at all times useful. “Robi bhai and Sree bhai came to support us and gave us tips when we were batting in the field. They always gave us a boost. At the same time, we can learn a lot from them by just observing their play,” he mentioned.
Azhar hails from Thalangara in Kasaragod district and has been enjoying for his state within the home circuit since 2015. In the T20 format, he has scored 404 runs in 19 innings at a median of 23.76 and a strike-rate of 144.80.
