At the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, Mohammed Azharudden became the first T20 centurion for Kerala as he hammered a 37-ball ton to guide the team to a convincing win against Mumbai.
The seasoned campaigner - who has been in the circuit for the last six years - surpassed Rohan Prem’s previous top-score of 92 not out and ensured that Kerala remained undefeated in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
While he toyed with the Mumbai bowlers en route 137 off 54 deliveries, the Kerala camp looked excited with Azharudden’s feat.
A wicketkeeper-batsman, Azharuddeen made it to Kerala’s first-class side in 2015 and has been quite a consistent performer since.
What’s in a name
A few years ago, during the team's training camp in Chennai, Tinu Yohannan - the current Kerala head coach - had told Sportstar an interesting story about the young Azharuddeen - which has become a folklore in Kerala's cricketing circuit.
When he was born in 1994, his parents had initially thought of a different name, but it was his elder brother Kamarudden, who named him Azharudden - after his ‘idol’ Mohammad Azharuddin - who was then the India captain.
And for the obvious reasons, ever since his age-group cricket days, the youngster would be referred to as ‘Azhar in the making’.
Yesterday once more
In an empty Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday evening, it was quite a ‘throwback to the 1990s’ as Azharuddeen was joined by Sachin Baby - namesake of another India legend, Sachin Tendulkar.
While Baby - a former Kerala captain - remained unbeaten on 2, those few minutes both Azharuddeen and Baby spent at the crease turned into a much talked-about affair on social media. With just a couple of runs left, Azharuddeen sealed the deal with a six.
And ever since his age-group cricket days, the 26-year-old made his presence felt with some consistent performances, and earned himself the reputation of a prolific shot maker.
After impressive stints at the U-19 and U-23 levels, Azharudden was drafted into the Kerala team, and even though there have been struggles in between, Azharuddeen has tried doing justice to his name and talent.
And a stunning show at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, not only guided Kerala to yet another win, but also helped the youngster stamp his class.
Interestingly, his namesake Azharuddin, too, had a successful outing at the Wankhede Stadium, where he is the second highest run-scorer of India in the ODIS - 302 runs in eight matches - right after Sachin Tendulkar. In the six Tests that he played at the iconic venue, Azhar scored 126 runs.
Comments
SHARE