Suresh Raina lauds Kerala's Mohammed Azharuddeen for his 54-ball 137* against Mumbai

Suresh Raina heaped praise on Kerala's rising star Mohammed Azharuddeen for his magnificent performance against Mumbai in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Kerala opener smacked an unbeaten 54-ball 137* and guided his team to an 8-wicket win at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

Suresh Raina is a part of the Uttar Pradesh squad in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The retired Indian cricketer has closely followed all matches of the competition, and he enjoyed Mohammed Azharuddeen's batting performance on his television.

Raina shared the clip of Azharuddeen reaching his century and labeled his innings as a 'top knock'.

Suresh Raina shared a video from the Kerala vs. Mumbai match through an Instagram story.

Mohammed Azharuddeen opened the innings for Kerala and ensured his team chased down a 197-run target inside 16 overs. The wicket-keeper batsman struck nine fours and 11 sixes in his blistering knock to decimate the Mumbai bowling attack.

IPL stars Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivam Dube, Siddhesh Lad, and Tushar Deshpande featured in the Mumbai bowling attack. However, they could not trouble Mohammed Azharuddeen even though this was a home fixture.

Mohammed Azharuddeen becomes first centurion for Kerala cricket team

The Kerala cricket team has given match-winners to the national side, with Sanju Samson and Sadagoppan Ramesh. being the most notable names in their lineup. However, no batsman managed to score a hundred for Kerala in T20 cricket before Mohammed Azharuddeen.

1⃣st 💯 for a Kerala batsman in T20s 🔥2⃣nd fastest ton in #SyedMushtaqAliT20's history 👏3⃣rd joint-fastest T20 hundred by an Indian batsman 👌9⃣ fours, 1⃣1⃣ sixes & 1⃣3⃣7⃣* off 5⃣4⃣!Watch Mohammed Azharuddeen's dominating hundred 🎥👇 #KERvMUM https://t.co/72DX7UDadJ pic.twitter.com/9dbAIEq4gT

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 13, 2021

The right-handed batsman broke Rohan Prem's record to register the highest individual score by a batsman for Kerala in domestic T20s. Besides this, his century is the second-fastest century in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history. Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant holds the record for the quickest ton in the tournament's history.

2 wins on the bounce for Kerala! 👏Mohammed Azharuddeen's breathtaking 1⃣3⃣7⃣* powers Kerala to an eight-wicket win over Mumbai. 👍 #KERvMUM #SyedMushtaqAliT20 Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/V6H1Yp60Vs pic.twitter.com/KH5YyGOK5u

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 13, 2021