New Delhi: Even though Cheteshwar Pujara is no longer in the picture of the Indian Test team. But he has been performing consistently well in first-class cricket. Pujara scored a double century for Saurashtra against Chhattisgarh in the Ranji Trophy. Let us tell you that even till the time of writing the news, Pujara is playing unbeaten on 221 runs. So far he has also hit 23 fours and 1 six. Due to this inning, Pujara overtook the record of first-class centuries of West Indian batsman Brian Lara. This was Cheteshwar Pujara’s 66th first-class century, due to which he crossed Lara’s record of 65 centuries. This was also his 25th Ranji Trophy century, leaving behind Vinod Kambli and Subramaniam Badrinath and now he is behind only Paras Dogra in this list. Cheteshwar Pujara is at the forefront of Ranji Trophy centuries among active players. Let us tell you that this was Pujara’s 18th double century in first class cricket.
Now Rahul Dravida’s record on target
Pujara has now also moved closer to the top three Indian players with most first-class centuries. He is two centuries behind Rahul Dravid, who had scored 68 centuries in his career. He is also behind Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, who had scored 81-81 centuries.
During his century against Chhattisgarh, he also crossed the 21,000 first-class run mark. Who became the fourth Indian player to do so after Gavaskar, Tendulkar and Dravid. Gavaskar currently tops the list with 25834 runs in first-class cricket. Pujara now has six centuries in 2024. Which he has imposed while playing for Sussex in Saurashtra and County Championships.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s contribution to the Indian team
36-year-old Cheteshwar Pujara has played 103 test matches in his career for the Indian cricket team. During this period, he has scored 7195 runs in 176 innings at an average of 43.6, which includes 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries. Pujara has also played 5 ODIs for Team India, in which his performance was not special. He has only 51 runs to his name in the ODI format.