Kerala’s wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen has impressed one and all with his stunning performances in the 2021 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Kerala-based cricketer stole all the limelight by smashing a 37-ball century against Mumbai, hitting 9 boundaries and 11 sixes. Azaharuddeen amassed 214 runs in 5 innings at an average of 53.50 during the elite tournament.
All thanks to his terrific performances, the cricketer was picked by Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during IPL 2021 auctions.
Time and again, Azharuddeen has expressed his admiration towards the Indian and RCB skipper. Recently, in an interview, the wicketkeeper revealed the first message he received from Virat after he was picked by the Bangalore-based franchise.
Well, Azharuddeen revealed that he was watching the auctions with his Kerala teammates and after celebrating winning his maiden IPL contract with his teammates, he rushed back to his room where he was left surprised after seeing a welcome message from the Indian skipper. He revealed:
“I returned to my room after being congratulated by my team-mates. Just after 2 minutes, I got a message from an unknown number. The message read ‘Welcome to RCB, Azharuddeen. Virat here. All the best. See you soon.’
As per Azharuddeen, the text was too good to be true, hence he refused to believe that it was actually from Kohli. Therefore, Azharuddeen rushed to Sanju Samson to confirm if it was really Kohli’s number. He revealed:
“I immediately rushed to Sanju’s room and showed him the message. He (Sanju) checked the number and confirmed that it was Virat bhai’s number. I was so glad and elated,”
“In reply, I wrote -thank you so much, sir. That means the world to me,” he added.
Furthermore in the interview, Azharuddeen revealed that he has a lot of questions for the RCB skipper. He said:
“Consistency. How can I be a consistent cricketer? This is the first thing I want to ask him (Virat). Ultimately, we all want to represent India someday. For that, we have to be consistent performers. He is the best batsman in the world and he is the best captain as well. His average is above 50 in all three formats. That’s unbelievable. I want to ask Virat Bhai how to be a consistent cricketer,”
