Indian cricketing stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara on Sunday, August 24, confirmed his decision to retire from all formats of Indian cricket, thus bringing down the curtain on his illustrious Test cricket career.
With this decision, the 38-year-old not only called it an end of an era in Team India’s longest format, he also send shockwaves among his fans in India as well as around the world.
Taking to social media, the Rajkot-born Indian cricket decided to call off time on his cricket journey, captioning the post, “Wearing the Indian jersey, singing the anthem, and trying my best each time I stepped on the field - it’s impossible to put into words what it truly meant. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and with immense gratitude I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket . Thank you for all the love and support!”
As he bid adieu to international cricket, in this article, SportsTiger looks at three unique records of Cheteshwar Pujara in Tests, a format in which he took pride in playing for India and excelled exceptionally, especially batting at number three where he scored 6529 of his 7195 runs.
Top three unique Test records held by Cheteshwar Pujara at No. 3
Only Indian cricketer to play 500-plus balls in a Test innings
A format which demands utmost patience, Cheteshwar Pujara made himself recognizable, managing to extend his stay at the crease for 500-plus deliveries in an innings, making him the only Indian so far to have achieved this feat. The instance took place during Australia’s tour of India in 2017. In the third Test, which was played in Ranchi, Pujara tormented the Aussie bowling lineup and stayed for over 672 minutes where he faced 525 balls, scoring 202 runs.
Pujara holds a feat to have batted on all five days of a Test match
Not only this, the Indian stalwart was at the crease on all five days of a Test match. However, this is a feat in itself, during the Kolkata Test match against Sri Lanka in 2017, Pujara batted on all five days however he could only score 75 runs.
Most balls faced by an Indian cricketer in BGT series
Pujara, who usually walked out to bat at number three, saw the best come during the 2018-19 Australia tour. The Indian veteran led India to a 2-1 series win, scoring 521 runs in four Tests where he scored three Test centuries - clinching the Player of the Series award. During the tour, Pujara batted for 1258 balls, the most faced for India in a BGT series.
Here’s a look at Cheteshwar Pujara’s career numbers in international cricket
|
Format |
Matches |
Innings |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Average |
BF |
Strike Rate |
100s |
50s |
4s |
6s |
|
Tests |
103 |
176 |
11 |
7195 |
206* |
43.60 |
16217 |
44.36 |
19 |
35 |
863 |
16 |
|
ODIs |
5 |
5 |
0 |
51 |
27 |
10.20 |
130 |
39.23 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
