Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 14: Cheteshwar Pujara will join an elite list of India cricketers in the second Test against Australia in Delhi on February 17.
He is scheduled to beat Australia, a team he has routinely thrashed in the past, in order to achieve this historic feat. In the current team, Pujara will be just the second cricketer to play 100 Tests. In March 2022, Virat Kohli played his 100th game, which was against Sri Lanka in Mohali.
Pujara, incidentally, made his Test debut at Bengaluru against Australia in 2010 and immediately signalled what was to come over the following ten years. Pujara, who replaced Rahul Dravid at No. 3 in his first Test, produced an assured 72 as India overcame a deficit of 207 to take the match and the series 2-0.
Cheteshwar Pujara has a stellar record against India’s toughest adversaries in the Test arena after playing 20 more Test matches against Australia since his electrifying debut. He has 1900 runs at an average of 52.77 against Australia in 21 games, with 5 hundreds and 10 fifties.
Cheteshwar Pujara led the batting charts during India’s tour of Australia in 2018–19 with 521 runs in 4 Test matches as they went on to win their first Test series there ever. Two years later, as India won their second straight Test series in Australia, Pujara did not score as many runs but took multiple body blows in some of the most courageous innings in Test cricket in the contemporary era.
Cheteshwar Pujara has an exceptional record overall, scoring 7021 runs at 44.15, with the help of 19 hundreds and 34 half-centuries, in 99 Test matches.
Cheteshwar Pujara deviates from the mold of the modern cricketer. He had previously been cut from the Test team due to strike-rate difficulties, and it’s sometimes questioned if he could have scored more swiftly now that Test matches are increasingly being decided by middle-order hitters who are more aggressive.
Pujara has tried to alter his strategy and attitude, though. Late last year in Bangladesh, Pujara scored his fastest Test century; in Nagpur, he was out cheaply but showed symptoms of a player who wanted to take control right away.
After India lost a Test series in South Africa despite leading 1-0, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were cut from the squad. The team management couldn’t ignore Pujara, who made a successful comeback to the Test side for the postponed match against England in Birmingham, while Rahane continues to remain out in the cold.
Cheteshwar Pujara has exhibited increased determination since joining the team. After scoring 66 in the second innings in Birmingham, Pujara made 90 and 102 runs against Bangladesh in the first Test before failing in Nagpur.
Pujara will be a crucial component as India looks to maintain their dominance over Australia, and the team is counting on him to put forth a remarkable performance in this historic game.
