Kerala 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 event in Chennai on February 18.
The 26-year-old scored 137 runs off just 54 deliveries. With the help of his 37-ball, Kerala chased down the 197-run target against Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last month. During his knock, the youngster hit 11 sixes and became the joint 3rd-fastest 100 in T20.
Talking about the IPL 2021 Auction, Azharuddeen said, “2 minutes after the auction, Virat Bhai messaged me saying, Welcome to RCB, all the best. Virat here. The message made me very emotional. It is not something I could have even dreamt of that he messaged.”
“It is something I am happy about Virat Bhai, and I look at as a cricket icon. It has always been a pleasure of mine to play with Virat Bhai. I am very excited and pleased to be on the same team as him,” the Young Turk said.
Azharuddeen also said about sharing the dressing room with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, the top two run-scorers for RCB.
“I wanted to represent RCB, and, amazingly, they have picked me. It would be a good experience to share the dressing room with Kohli Bhai and AB de Villiers’ likes. I am thankful to everyone who helped me here. It is all just settling in slowly,” Azharuddeen said.
RCB also picked Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Sachin Baby, Srikar Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai Rajat Patidar in the 2021 auction.
