Former India captain Mohd Azharuddin’s son Asaduddin will be another star-son to rise this forthcoming domestic season. Asad, who merely attended one week’s trials in Kanpur, was selected in Uttar Pradesh’s 15-member squad on Friday for the zonal Vijay Hazare Trophy to be played in Nagpur.

Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Rajeev Shukla said that Azhar was keen on his son — a middle-order batsman — representing UP where he was a MP from Moradabad in the last Lok Sabha.

“Azhar was MP from Uttar Pradesh and he wanted his son to represent this state but as he is from Hyderabad we had asked him to submit NOC (No Objection Certificate) which he did this year. Even Shivlal (Yadav) had told me about Asad. I had told Azhar that his selection will be only on merit. In the trials, he scored handsomely after which selectors picked him in the squad,” Shukla told The Indian Express.

However, in the three trials games, 24-years-old Asad has in fact scored only one half-century. Shukla, however, insisted that Asad’s selection is only on merit and there was no political influence involved.

“I don’t pick the team, there are selectors who saw him and felt he (Asad) should be picked in the team. There is no political influence in it. The boy was picked only on merit,” he added.

Interestingly, a few players like Mohd Saif, who was India’s best junior cricketer declared by BCCI a year ago, is still being asked to play in UP Under 19s. Shukla adds that the selectors wanted Saif and another talented rookie Rinku Singh to take part in the under-19 as their absence will be a big loss in forthcoming games.

“Junior selectors told us that if Saif and Rinku are not there, the team will be weak. We are under-19 champions and we want our team to do well in junior cricket,” Shukla points out.

However, the decision of picking Asad has certainly raised some eyebrows. The left-handed batsman doesn’t exactly boast of big scores, coming into this season. In the last two years, Asad’s highest score is just 54 for India Cements in the Hyderabad league. Asad was also part of the Kolkata Knight Riders second string team two years ago but never made it to the IPL side. Azhar’s eldest son represented Marredpally Colts in Hyderabad, a team that was famous because former Indian batsman VVS Laxman represented them. Interestingly, it is learnt that even UP coach Venkatesh Prasad has not seen Asad play.