THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Many are the fans who name children after their sporting heroes, but few are the namesakes who justify their names. In his prime, Mohammad Azharuddin had held fans spellbound with the effortless artistry of his batsmanship.
And it should come as no surprise that a boy born in 1994 was named after the former India captain. Twenty-one years on, the lad is now playing Ranji Trophy – the highest stage of cricket in the domestic circuit. While he is far from being a cricketer like ‘Azhar’, Kerala’s own ‘Aju’ is determined enough to dream of a long innings in the game.
Just as there is a slight difference in the spellings of the two names - Mohammad Azharuddin against the new Mohammed Azharuddeen, the Kerala boy prefers to play a lot straighter than the wristy Azhar who had a penchant for playing across the line.
“Azhar had stopped playing cricket when I started playing. I have seen his batting on You Tube. But I have not modelled my game on his style of batting,” says Kerala’s Azharuddeen.
His coach with the Ranji Trophy team, P Balachandran, does see similarities between the two.
“Like the former India captain, Azharuddeen is also someone who plays instinctive cricket. Their game character is the same and I have also noticed that the younger one’s flick shots resemble his namesake. Azharuddeen is more adept at facing fast bowlers while the older Azharuddin was someone who played spin very well,” he observes. Their difference in batting positions, with ‘Aju’ being an opener, didn’t provide scope for further comparison, he adds.
The youngster’s name has been the source of much curiosity wherever he has gone to play cricket.
In his Ranji debut at Porvorim in Goa recently, international umpire Anil Chaudhary, striking up a conversation while standing at square leg, told him: “I am also a great fan of Azharuddin. If I had a son, I too would have named him so.”
A little later, a catch came Azharuddeen’s way at square leg.
“I took the catch and handed the ball over to umpire Chaudhary who had a big smile on his face,” Aju recollects. Well, the senior Azhar seldom dropped a catch in his time.
Born as the youngest of eight boys in a Kasargod family, ‘Aju’ was given the name by his eldest brother Kamaruddeen who was a die-hard fan of the Hyderabadi stylist.
“I grew up watching my brothers play cricket. It was exciting for me to see them pack their bags and leave for a tournament. Although none of them made it big, the family decided to support me in my efforts to become a good cricketer,” he says of the family bond. But it is Unais, another of his brothers, who has had the biggest influence in his evolution as a cricketer.
“My father had passed away seven years ago, and Unais has been my greatest supporter. He calls me up regularly to talk about my needs, game development and upcoming matches. He has often been a big source of motivation whenever I have felt a bit low,” Aju says.
The turning point in his career came when in class IX, after being selected to the Kerala Cricket Association academy in Kochi.
“Otherwise, I may not have become a cricketer because the facilities in Kasargod is pretty poor compared to Kochi or Thiruvananthapuram,” points out the final year English Literature student of Sacred Heart College, Thevara.
Making a steady progress with Kerala through age-group cricket, Azharuddeen also has Kerala skipper Sanju Samson to thank for, helping the former overcome his mother’s death eight months ago.
“I was struggling to come to terms with the loss of my mother, and I was feeling very low this season. As I mentioned this to Sanju Bhai, he told me that ‘I have a great platform to do something for my mother when compared with many others. She would be watching over me with pride if I performed well’. That was a great piece of advice for me. And I was determined to perform for her in the next match, and I made 156 against Maharashtra in an under-23 match,” says the wicketkeeper-batsman.
A couple of weeks later, he was walking out to open in Ranji Trophy. He nurtures a big dream too.
“I have been waiting for this platform. And now I just want to perform well. My dream is to win the Ranji Trophy with my teammates. That will be a big achievement for us. I’m not worried about playing for India. That will happen if it has to because all that is in my hands is to perform well on the Ranji Trophy platform,” he stresses.