Mohammed Azharuddeen played stunningly as he hammered a whopping knock of 137* runs off just 54 deliveries at a strike rate of 253.7 against Mumbai.
Named after India’s finest batsman Mohammed Azharuddin who was India’s former skipper and veteran of 99 Tests and 334 ODIs till match-fixing controversy saw him banned for life, Kerala’s opening batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen managed to lit up the 2021 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Mohammed Azharuddeen Of Kerala Scores Ton
The youngster played one of the finest knocks in the history of the marquee event which is in its initial stages to help Kerala win convincingly against Mumbai by 8 wickets at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, January 13 and register their second consecutive win in the league.
After being asked to bat first, Mumbai managed to score a massive target of 196 on the board in stipulated 20 overs as the opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Aditya Tare scored 40 and 42 runs respectively. This was followed by captain Suryakumar Yadav adding 38 runs to the scoreboard. For Kerala, Jalaj Saxena, and KM Asif were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets apiece.
In reply, the 26-year-old batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen went all guns blazing scoring freely against the opponent’s feeble bowling attack to slam a 37-ball century, the joint third-fastest by an Indian player in the format.
He played in stunning fashion taking Mumbai bowlers apart hitting a whopping unbeaten knock of 137 runs off just 54 deliveries at a strike rate of 253.7. His knock included 9 boundaries and 11 maximums. Mumbai bowlers Tushar Deshpande, Dhawal Kulkarni and Shams Mulani were taken to the cleaners.
Mohammed Azharuddeen also became the first centurion from Kerala. Along with him, other opening batsmen Robin Uthappa also smashed 33 runs off 23 deliveries while captain Sanju Samson played a knock of 22 runs off 12 balls. This helped Kerala in successfully chasing the target of 197 runs in just 15.5 overs and registering a handsome eight-wicket 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.
Mohammed Azharuddeen Dreams Of Playing In IPL And 2023 World Cup
This win also helped Kerala to secure the second position with 8 points in their bag in the points table of Elite Group E. The toppers in group E, Delhi also have 8 points but are ahead of Kerala due to a better net run rate.
After his spectacular show against Mumbai, the 26-year-old Mohammed Azharuddeen was widely praised by many veteran cricketers, cricket analysts, and pundits. He also became a favourite with fans heaping praises on him and digging out more information about him.
After his heroics in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which is a T20 event, the YouTube channel of Manorama News revealed the bucket list of the opening batsman. The Kasaragod-born has the dream of representing India in the ICC 2023 World Cup which will be staged by India in 2023.
Besides, he also wants to play the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) and harbours a dream of smashing as many as 4 hundreds in the Ranji Trophy. As far as his personal goals are concerned, the 26-year-old Mohammed Azharuddeen wants to buy a house for himself and his family along with the Benz car.
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