Number for Jaguar: Businessman outbids Sreesanth for 369

KOCHI: Cricketer Sreesanth may have to wait a bit before he starts to play for the country again. He will have to wait some more time to get his favourite number for his new Jaguar also.
On Monday, he was outbid at the auction for registration number KL 7 CE 369 by a businessman hailing from Perumbavoor.
Officials with the regional transport office (RTO), Ernakulam, said that Sreesanth had offered up to Rs 1.05 lakh for the number.
But Syed Mohammed Nasser, a Perumbavoor resident, who runs a transport firm based in Qatar, bid Rs 1.06 lakh and secured the number for his Porsche.
Officials with the motor vehicles department (MVD) said that the cricketer had informed them that he would wait for the number when the next series, CF, is announced.
Nasser, who is into transporting employees of oil companies in Qatar, has eight cars with the register number 369, including KL 7 CA, CB, CC, CD and CE series.
“Earlier, I had secured KL 7 BL 1 for my Mercedes Benz through auction. Then, I had a few more vehicles with the registration number 1 from other series. When the competition for number 1 became tougher, I opted for 369,” Nasser said.
According to Nasser, the craze for 369 has nothing to do with numerology or luck. “I wanted to have a uniform number for all my cars. That’s all,” he said.
In his first race for 369, Nasser had to compete with a major celebrity from the state.
“It was none other than actor Mammootty. Till then, 369 was secured by Mammootty. In that auction, Mammootty had offered Rs 1.45 lakh for KL 7 BM 369 and I secured the number by bidding Rs 1.48 lakh,” he said.
Interestingly, he had won KL 7 CC 369 by outbidding Dulquer Salmaan, Mammootty’s son.
Nasser’s cell phone number also ends with 369. “But I didn’t pay any money to secure the number,” he said.