Filling in the shoes of Rahul Dravid at No. 3 wouldn’t have been an easy task. But Cheteshwar Pujara?
He owned the position. He was literally a replica of his predecessor. And India wouldn’t have asked for a better replacement than him.
When Pujara came to the crease, he would just bat, bat, and bat. His long grind almost left the opponents frustrated. And through this grind, Pujara built an iconic career along with some notable records.
In this article, we’ll look at Cheteshwar Pujara’s records in Test and First-Class cricket.
Fifth Most Balls Faced for India in Tests
Pujara was a classic Test batter among his modern contemporaries. His mission? To soak up deliveries while scoring at a steady pace.
And no wonder, Pujara played 16,217 balls in his Test career! This puts him in the fifth position among the Indian Test batters who have faced 16,000-plus balls.
Second-Most Runs and Centuries at No. 3 for India in Tests
About 92 per cent of those balls Pujara played at No. 3. The result?
He scored 6529 runs and 18 centuries in 155 innings (95 Tests) in that position. This puts Pujara right behind Dravid in terms of runs and centuries scored at No. 3 for India in Tests.
Overall, he aggregated 7195 runs in 176 innings (103 Tests), the eighth most for India in Tests.
Carrying the Bat Through a Test innings
While Pujara was largely a No. 3 batter, he batted out of the position on a few occasions. And guess what? He dished out one of his finest Test knocks while opening the batting.
It was the 2015 Colombo Test. With regular openers injured, Pujara opened alongside KL Rahul.
The pitch wasn’t easy to bat. But Pujara? He stood on the crease till the end. He contributed an unbeaten 145 as India fell for 312 runs.
With that, Pujara became the fourth Indian opener to carry the bat throughout a Test innings.
Also Read | What Does ‘Carry the Bat’ Term Mean in Cricket?
Longest Test Innings by Balls Faced
Pujara scored three double centuries for India. And the last of those was a long knock. Like really long.
On a tough Ranchi pitch, Pujara aggregated 202 runs against Australia in 2017. What makes it the longest Test innings is the number of balls he played – 525.
No other Indian batter has faced more than 500 deliveries in a single Test innings!
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Batting on All Five Days of a Test Match
2017 saw Pujara pull off another rare record. In a rain-infested Kolkata Test against Sri Lanka, the right-hander batted on each day of the Test match!
Yep. Pujara walked out to bat on all five days. While there wasn’t much action on the first two days, thanks to the rain, he was unbeaten on 8 and 47 runs towards the closure of the two days.
On the third morning, Pujara fell for 52. He was back on the crease towards the end of the fourth day, ending it on an unbeaten 2 runs. He resumed on the fifth day, though he added only 20 more runs.
This made Pujara the third Indian batter to bat on each day of a five-day Test match.
Fourth Most Runs and Centuries in First-Class Cricket Among Indians
Pujara’s love affair with the red ball was beyond Test cricket. He was exceptionally great in his overall first-class career.
Pujara featured in 278 first-class matches, aggregating 21,301 runs and 66 hundreds. His first-class numbers are the fourth highest among Indian batters.
He was the fourth Indian to score 20,000 runs and the fifth Indian to smash 60 centuries in first-class cricket.
Most Double Centuries in First-Class Cricket Among Indians
Pujara often converted his centuries into big knocks. That’s how he functioned!
So he converted 18 of his 60 hundreds into double centuries in first-class cricket. This is the most first-class double centuries by an Indian batter.
Pujara scored nine of those double tons for Saurashtra, three each for India and Sussex, two for India A, and one for India Blue.
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