'IPL, own house, Benz, 2023 WC' - Kerala opening batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen's bucket list at his house goes viral

Named after India’s finest batsman Mohammed Azharuddin, Kerala’s opening batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen managed to lit up the 2021 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The youngster played one of the finest knocks in the history of the marquee event to help Kerala defeat Mumbai by 8 wickets at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, January 13 and register their second consecutive win in the league.

Put to bat first, Mumbai managed to rack up a massive target of 196 on the board in 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 each.

In reply, the 26-year-old Mohammed Azharuddeen went all guns blazing against the opponent’s feeble bowling attack as he slammed a 37-ball century, the joint third-fastest by an Indian player in the format. He played in stunning fashion as he hammered 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.

Azharuddeen also became the first centurion from Kerala. Along with Azharuddeen, 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 completing the target of 197 runs in just 15.5 overs and registering a handsome eight-wicket win against Mumbai.

Mohammed Azharuddeen dreams of playing in IPL

This win helped Kerala in securing 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 hailed by many veteran cricketers, cricket analysts, and pundits. He also became a fan favorite with people heaping praises on him and digging out more information about him.

After his heroics in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, 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 hosted in 2023 in India.

In addition, Azharuddeen also wants to play the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) and harbors 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 wants to buy a house for himself and his family along with the Benz car.