Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen was one of the hot picks at the recently-concluded IPL 2021 auction. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) picked him up at his base price of INR 20 lakhs during the mini-event that took place in Chennai on February 18.
The 26-year-old managed to hog the limelight with his swashbuckling knock against Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last month. He scored 137 runs off just 54 deliveries. With the help of his 37-ball century, Kerala chased down the 197-run target in Wankhede. During his knock, the youngster hit 11 sixes and became the joint third-fastest hundred in T20 cricket by an Indian batsman.
Talking about the IPL 2021 auction, Azharuddeen said, “Two minutes after the auction, Virat bhai messaged me saying, ‘Welcome to RCB, all the best. Virat here.’ The message made me very emotional. It’s not something I could have even dreamt of, that he’d message.”
“It is something I’m very happy about. Virat bhai is someone I look at as a cricket icon. It has always been a dream of mine to play with Virat bhai. I’m very excited and very happy to be on the same team as him,” the Young Turk told Sportskeeda.
Azharuddeen also spoke about sharing the dressing room with Virat and AB de Villiers – the top two run-scorers for RCB.
“I wanted to represent RCB and it’s amazing that they have picked me. It would be a surreal experience to share the dressing room with the likes of Kohli bhai and AB de Villiers. I’m thankful to everyone who helped me get here. It’s all just settling in slowly,” Azharuddeen added.
Along with Azharuddeen, RCB also picked Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Sachin Baby, Srikar Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai and Rajat Patidar in the auction.
