Ranji Trophy | Twitter in awe as Pujara offers stern reminder to national selectors with flawless unbeaten 243
'Form is temporary, class is permanent' reads the cliched saying but it might well be true if Cheteshwar Pujara is an example to go by. Having been dropped from the national side, the Saurashtra veteran dominated Jharkhand in the Ranji season opener to register his 17th first-class double century.
Saurashtra raced towards a victory against Jharkhand to open their Ranji Trophy campaign in Rajkot on Sunday after securing a mammoth first-innings lead of 424 runs, largely on the back of an indomitable batting effort by Cheteshwar Pujara. The 35-year-old took the field in the first session on Saturday with his team within seven runs of equalling Jharkhand's total of 142 and crusaded his way to unbridled 157 by Stumps. He continued his knock with the same elegance on Day 3 of the encounter, eventually reaching the 200-run milestone with aplomb and ending up unbeaten on 243 when skipper Jaydev Unadkat declared the innings for the defending champions.
Pujara's double century was the 17th in his 18-year first-class career, the fourth most by a player in cricket history, and the tally of eight in the Ranji Trophy only second-best to Paras Dogra's nine. The veteran's unperturbed showing indicated he was well on-course for a first triple ton in a decade as well, having reached the mark thrice in his storied career.
Pujara was dropped from the Indian side after another poor showing in the World Test Championship Final at The Oval in June, following which the Men in Blue have played two Tests each in the Caribbean and South Africa respectively, where Shubman Gill featured in the number three spot. The top-order maestro had only managed one ton on the international stage since the Boxing Day Test against Australia in 2018 which forced the selectors to look beyond Pujara who has 103 Test caps to his name. However, Pujara would hope his latest effort would put him back in contention for the upcoming five-match Test series against England beginning January 25 given the national team's struggles with constructing long innings, at least as far as Twitterati was concerned.
What an innings!
𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘀𝗵𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗣𝘂𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮! 💯💯
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic)
A spectacular 2⃣0⃣0⃣ in Rajkot from the Saurashtra batter! 👏👏
Follow the match ▶️ | | | |
The monk
Monk of Indian Cricket—Che Pujara. Keeps piling on the runs whenever and wherever he bats. 🙇♂️
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Superb
Cheteshwar pujara completed his 200 in ranji trophy.
— Ankit Verma (@TechyWicket)
Happiness
Smiles Of Cheteshwar Pujara
— Jagbir Chahal (@JagbirChahal6)
What a start!
The moment when Cheteshwar Pujara completed his 200...!!!
— Cricket Xtra+ (@Taranpreet37424)
- What a way to kick off 2024 Ranji Trophy season
Yup
Poi Mogga gudavandi and ICT management.
— Kenn Royal (@KennRoyal)
Twin tons
Double hundred by cheteshwar Pujara
— Dexter (@dexternvm)
Absolutely correct
Border Gavaskar Trophy aane wala ho aur Pujara Indian team mein na ho aisa kabhi ho sakta hai kya
— Arnav Singh (@Arnavv43)
Historic
In the history of cricket only 3 Batsman have scored more double century than Cheteshwar Pujara in first class cricket. He equalled the record of Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash 17 double Hundred in first class game cricket.
— Satya Prakash (@Satya_Prakash08)
Only Sir Don Bradman 37, Wally Hammond 36 and…
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