Veteran Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara scored a memorable double century for Saurashtra during the Ranji Trophy game on Monday. The 36-year-old sent a huge reminder to selectors just weeks before the Border Gavaskar series. Cheteshwar Pujara has a good record in Australia and played a key role in the two series wins in 2018 and 2021.
The right-handed batter also scored his 66th domestic ton and went past Brian Lara in the process. The right-handed batter was scoring runs at a fair clip and his strike rate was over 50. Pujara could be seen using his feet against the spinners and even employed reverse sweeps.
While it isn’t sure if Pujara will be back in the Indian team set up, the selectors will be keeping a close watch. With KL Rahul struggling for form and Sarfaraz Khan likely to tour Down Under for the first time, there is a chance that Pujara could be considered. The veteran star knows he needs to pile on more runs to knock on the selection doors once more.
Here are the top 3 Cheteshwar Pujara’s batting performances in the Ranji Trophy
3. 269 vs Tamil Nadu -2013 – Chennai
Towards the end of 2013, Saurashtra traveled to Chennai to take on home team Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy game. It was Tamil Nadu who batted first and scored a massive 565/8 from 158.2 overs. The top scorer for the home team was Abhinav Mukund who scored 240 off 437 balls while Dinesh Karthik scored 133 off 192 balls.
Saurashtra lost their openers Sagar Jogiyani and Bhushan Chauhan for 0 and 3. Cheteshwar Pujara who was preparing to tour South Africa came out and scored 269 runs. His knock came off 461 balls with 33 fours and helped his team score 581/6 to help Saurashtra take the 1st innings lead and also get the points.
2. 302 vs Odisha -2008- Rajkot
20-year-old Cheteshwar Pujara was in top form for Saurashtra during the 2008 Ranji Trophy season. During the game against Odisha at home the youngster put the world on notice with a huge triple ton. The right-handed batter scored 302 not out from 423 balls with the help of 33 fours and 3 sixes. Ravindra Jadeja was the next best batter with 232 mot out from 375 balls with 23 fours and 2 sixes. The future Indian stars added 520 runs for the 4th wicket in 117.3 overs.
Odisha lost the game by an innings and 84 runs as they were bowled out for 302 in the 1st innings. Asked to follow on, Odisha scored 234 in the 2nd innings as Jadeja picked 5/44 in 28.1 overs with 14 maiden overs. This game put both Pujara and Jadeja in focus and earmarked the duo for further greatness.
1. 352 vs Karnataka -2013 – Rajkot
The start of 2013 saw young Cheteshwar Pujara take the Karnataka bowlers to the cleaners. It was the Ranji Trophy quarter-final game that saw Saurashtra dominate Karnataka to make it to the semi-finals. Saurashtra batted first and scored 469 before bowling out Karnataka for 396. Manish Pandey top scored with 177 while KL Rahul (55) and Robin Uthappa (60) were the other main contributors.
In their 2nd innings, Saurashtra scored a massive 719 on the board with Cheteshwar Pujara scoring 352 runs. His knock came off 427 balls with 49 fours and a six and batted for 548 minutes as the game ended in a draw. Sheldon Jackson was the next best batter with 117 off 207 balls as the Karnataka bowlers could only stand and applaud the mastery shown by Pujara with the bat.
Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.