Kerala's Azharuddeen enjoying his moment under the sun

Chennai: Kerala's Mohammed Azharuddeen wouldn't have set out on the arduous journey to emulate the Mohammed Azharuddin of Hyderabad, if not for a cricket-crazy elder brother and a die-hard fan of the former India captain. From his name to his career option, everything to do with Azharuddeen was decided by Kamaruddeen.

The journey continues, though. While the first step towards fulfilling his family's dream was taken when he was chosen to represent Kerala in 2015, he shot into the national limelight recently with his 37-ball 100 in the domestic T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Mumbai.

"I have met him like twice or thrice. Once in my hometown and once in Hyderabad when we were there to play Ranji Trophy and he was the head coach of Hyderabad.

I shared the story of how I was named after him with Mohd Azharuddin sir," Azharuddeen told PTI. "To be frank, like my elder brother, I did not follow Azharuddin sir. I have just watched a few videos of his on Youtube," the Kerala stumper added.

The 26-year-old from Thalangara in north Kerala's Kasaragod town, known for its love for cricket rather than football, said the blistering knock would have surely pleased his brother Kamaruddeen, who had changed his youngest brother's name from Ajmal to Azharuddeen after his birth. Azharuddeen has seven brothers and all are big-time cricket fans.