Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara smashed his 25th Ranji Trophy century in the second round for Saurashtra against Chattisgarh in Rajkot. Batting on Monday, Pujara reached his ton in 197 balls as Saurashtra pursued Chattisgarh’s 578/7d first-innings total as well. However, Pujara scored his 66th First-Class century, surpassing Brian Lara’s tally in the format as well.

Cheteshwar Pujara recently found himself at the center of an IPL-related whirlwind after his cryptic post related Supperkings. A simple social media move by the seasoned cricketer led to a flood of speculations among the hopeful Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans.

Recent Events Leading to Confusion

On April 14, Pujara took to social media to make an announcement that left many thinking he would be joining the IPL fray this season with CSK, potentially replacing players like Devon Conway or Ajinkya Rahane. This speculation was fueled further by the ambiguous nature of his post.

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The Social Media Tease

The post that started it all was a simple, yet cryptically worded message from Pujara, hinting at spending the season with “SupperKings.” This play on words was enough to send the rumor mill into overdrive.

Fan Reactions and Speculations

CSK fans, always eager for strong additions to their squad, began theorizing how Pujara could fit into the team’s dynamics, especially given his reputation in Test cricket. The excitement was palpable, with discussions spanning from social media platforms to fan forums.

The Real Story Behind Pujara’s Post

However, the entire episode turned out to be a misunderstanding. Reports clarified that Pujara’s joining CSK was merely a hoax and his actual involvement was unrelated to any IPL team changes.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Cheteshwar Pujara (@cheteshwar_pujara)

His Role in Zomato’s New Campaign

The subsequent post from Pujara cleared the air, revealing his involvement in a new advertising campaign for Zomato, alongside celebrities like actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu and actor Ranveer Singh. The playful caption, “No one was harmed in this collab! We cool,” put to rest any further speculations.

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Cheteshwar Pujara, a name synonymous with resilience in Test cricket, is no stranger to the limelight. Although primarily known for his stoic presence in the longest format of the game, Pujara’s recent activity off the field caused quite the stir among the vibrant IPL community.

CSK’s Current Season Performance

Meanwhile, CSK continues to perform well in the IPL 2024, securing another victory against Mumbai Indians and maintaining a strong position in the league standings. With this, they are now currently 3rd in the IPL points table with 8 points in six matches.

Cheteshwar Pujara‘s social media post set off a frenzy among Chennai Super Kings (CSK) supporters just hours before their highly anticipated IPL 2024 match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium. The post quickly went viral on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), sparking speculation among fans about his potential return to the franchise after three years.

Cheteshwar Pujara shares on X

As CSK gears up for their fifth match of the season against the five-time champions Mumbai Indians, the excitement among fans is palpable. While Mumbai Indians have a strong record at home, winning their last two matches after a series of initial losses, Chennai Super Kings are yet to secure a victory away from their home ground, having lost both their previous matches outside Chepauk.

In the history of T20 cricket, CSK has a 17-21 head-to-head record against their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians. At Wankhede Stadium, CSK has a win-loss record of 4-7 against Mumbai. Although CSK lost two of their last three matches at the venue, they emerged victorious in the 2023 encounter.

Pujara’s tweet before the crucial clash ignited speculation among fans about his potential return to CSK after last playing for the franchise in 2021. While some fans eagerly welcomed the star Indian batter back to the team, others expressed concern about CSK’s strategy. Interestingly, some fans noted a subtle twist in Pujara’s tweet – it featured “#SupperKings” instead of “Super Kings,” suggesting a possible promotional activity within the CSK camp or a different venture altogether.

See Also: IPL 2024: Shikhar Dhawan is out from PBKS for 7 days; Here is why!

Pujara’s tweet sparks buzz among CSK fans

Pujara, who has played for four different IPL franchises, has scored 390 runs in 30 matches, with a single half-century to his name. However, his last IPL appearance was in 2014 for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). Although he was part of CSK in 2021, Pujara did not feature in the starting XI during that season.

The selection for the West Indies tour prior to the Duleep Trophy left a lot wondering on the direction of the Indian Team. They left out some big stars coming into the tour with Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav dropped while Sarfaraz Khan, who has been churning the big score endlessly and Abhimanyu Easwaran, another domestic superstar has missed out.

Both Sarfaraz and Easwaran have not found too many takers with the Indian Team while India finally may be moving on from Pujara, who has been a fixture in the line-up at number three for the last 13 years. Suryakumar Yadav though may not have things as easy. He got a chance to play one Test, did not do much or get much of an opportunity to make a mark, and was left out later. Now, with Rahane back as vice-captain, the road back for Suryakumar looks a lot longer.

The Duleep Trophy though gave the four batters an opportunity to push a claim for themselves. Abhimanyu though could not make a mark with 11 runs across two innings as he was undone by some good bowling. Sarfaraz too after scoring loads of runs again proved vulnerable against quality bowing in the Duleep Trophy, He fell without scoring much to the short ball and will also be waiting for a chance to stake another claim.

Pujara, recently dropped from the Test squad again, decided to challenge himself in the Duleep Trophy. He found some runs getting back to the grind and making a second innings century, and will have an opportunity to continue to score runs as he goes back to England to continue his County commitments with Sussex.

Suryakumar Yadav, dropped after one Test and a lot of time around the squad once again proved to be a sticky candidate for hte long game. He was out nicking to slips for a low score and it will be interesting to see what the immediate future holds for him too.

The last eighteen months were pretty tough for Ajinkya Rahane. He lost his spot on the Indian Team after a poor year and was finally left out after the South African Tour in early 2022. The loss of spot resulted in Ajinkya Rahane heading back to the grassroots level. He played a season of Domestic Cricket, did well, but not enough to lighten up the tournament. In his place, Shreyas Iyer, who walked into his middle-order spot looked very good against spin and was playing some intentful Cricket.

A strong start to his career put the brakes on Ajinkya Rahane’s comeback discussion as Rahane was left forgotten. He did still have a considerably good season in Ranji Trophy with more than 600 runs, and came back into the spotlight via the IPL, where Ajinkya Rahane looked high on confidence, batting with some incredible intent. While IPL performances should not warrant a spot on the Test side, Ajinkya Rahane did enough to make his Ranji performances and experience speak.

Weeks ago, the World Test Championship Final looked like a far and long-gone dream. Now, Ajinkya Rahane stands in UK waiting for the Test to begin, along with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, a trio who have carried the Test batting line-up for a decade. He is not the only one to have made an exceptional return to the Indian ranks though.

Cheteshwar Pujara too was dropped after the South Africa series in 2022 with 95 Test Capst to his name. At that stage, it looked highly unlikely for him to add to his tally as well. Pujara though got back into his groove as he went to England to play some County Cricket in 2022. During the County season he became an integral part of the Sussex line-up, scoring runs for fun as he transformed his game as well, batting with a lot more intent. With runs in England, Pujara made it back into the Indian Team and has earnt his spot back as a reliable member of the side.

With Pujara and Rahane back, India has their old warhorses together once more. The same pair was the only pair of Cricketers to last through all four Tests against Australia in the famous 2020-2021 Test series. The Duo, along with Virat Kohli have seen it all as they grew together during a two-year-long overseas touring marathon from 2013-2015, and now it is upon the trio once more to see them through the Finals as India look to end their ICC Trophy drought.

The moment coming up is pretty big. The trio though, very different in personality, will be unfazed. They have gone up against the Australians many times together and will be eager to get going against Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, continuing yet another famous battle.

Rohit Sharma’s expression said it all when Cheteshwar Pujara was batting with the tail. Mid-off was up, but Cheteshwar Pujara continued to block Nathan Lyon, who had claimed most of the Indian batting line-up by then with some expert bowling on a track with a lot of spin. At 144-7 India were struggling to put up a total. They conceded a considerable lead in the first innings and collapsed in the second as well.

In the second innings though, Cheteshwar Pujara was putting up a masterclass on how to bat on a spin friendly track. In his own traditional method, he was blocking Nathan Lyon out ball after ball as he has done on countless occasions over the last decade. However, with Wickets falling at the other end, Pujara needed to go harder, and he did, taking Nathan Lyon on in a manner he normally wouldn’t against Lyon.

Through their careers, Nathan Lyon and Cheteshwar Pujara had some of the fiercest battles. No batter managed to play Lyon in Australia as well as Pujara has, while Lyon, from his side has managed to strangle Pujara in his own ways when he came to India. 21 encounters, 13 dismissals and an average of 62 shows that Nathan Lyon has managed to get Pujara, but only after Cheteshwar Pujara blocked the life out of him.

Their battle began back in 2013, when Australia toured India, and peaked in 2017, when Pujara emerged as India’s best batter in the series. In 2018-2019 he went on to dominate Lyon as Lyon was left asking if Pujara was bored of batting. In 2020-2021, Lyon did get the better of Pujara as Pujara struggled to score runs, but only after facing a considerable number of deliveries.

The current series and a potential WTC Final though could be the last time the pair take each other on in what has been a fierce decade long battle. It’s been a different one this series though. Throughout the series, Pujara has been intent on scoring runs at a quicker pace, as he has been after his comeback to the Indian Team. He was out sweeping in the first Test, and in the second Test, Pujara did not hesitate to step down hit the ball over mid-on.

Unlike before, where Pujara would block bowlers out, Cheteshwar Pujara has been a lot more busy, particularly against Nathan Lyon. Stepping out, rotating strike and using the flick has become a new style when compared to Pujara’s old approach where he’d pad Nathan Lyon’s deliveries outside off. He continued to play percentage Cricket, which is something he does so well, but this time with a little more urgency, walking on a thin line against a raging Nathan Lyon, who was finding some incredible purchase and was in rhythm.

His control percentage against Nathan Lyon was high as normal, despite Nathan Lyon getting the better of the Indian batting line-up. As always, Nathan Lyon went for the traditional leg side strangle, bowling with a leg-side dominant field. With Cheteshwar Pujara stepping up, he added even more protection on the leg-side as the innings progressed. Lyon continued to build pressure, but Pujara continued to soak it in an release pressure with occasional breakaways shots.

As he did in Adelaide five years ago, Pujara started patiently, watched partners come and go, and batted with the tail. In Adelaide though, Pujara managed to score at a really quick rate after a slow start. Here, he faced 80 odd for his first 40 and then went on a stretch of 51 balls only scoring nine runs. Wickets kept going and the pressure of setting a target was building. Nathan Lyon though gave up on looking for the outside edge and threw it all on the leg-side trap.

To his fortune, and Pujara’s misfortune. Cheteshwar Pujara’s attack after 50 didn’t last long. A stunner at leg-slip saw the back of him ending another fierce battle between Lyon and Pujara. The pair have faced each other in a total of 1265 deliveries with Pujara making 561 runs and Lyon claiming him 13 times. In the period between their careers, no batter-bowler pair has faced each other as many times. Likewise, no batter has scored as many runs against one bowler as Pujara did against Lyon and barring Stuart Broad and David Warner, no bowler managed to dismiss a batter as many times in the last decade.

With both of them approaching the latter stages of the career, we could well be seeing their last set of battles. The next Border Gavaskar Trophy is in 2024 and the pair will be 37 by then. With both of them playing only one format they could still be around, but form and selection may have a say. For now though, they have a couple more battles to go, and fans can only hope the upcoming battle are as good as the Indore one, which had both players fight out in a battle of patience.

The delivery from Nathan Lyon stayed on the surface, turned sharply back toward Pujara, stayed a little low, and didn’t give him time to adjust. As India lost their top three for the lowest score of the series (36), he had his stumps shaken.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy’s third Test match between India and Australia in Indore was by far the most exciting and unexpected start yet. In the first over of the Test, Mitchell Starc hit Rohit Sharma twice, but on-field umpire Nitin Menon gave the India captain a not out, and Australia did not review either time. But the India captain didn’t last long as he tried to hit Matthew Kuhnemann out of the park in the sixth over and got stumped.

Shubman Gill, Rohit’s opening partner and KL Rahul’s replacement for this Test, got off to a great start against the seamers, but Kuhnemann bowled him out in his next over.

The Indore pitch made it abundantly clear that the batters would not have it easy, as evidenced by the fact that the ball turned both times. Australia was playing three finger-spinners, just like Delhi, and there was a lot of bounce and sharp turn.

Therefore, India’s No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara’s attempt to play an offside punch through against the turn was doubly surprising.

It was the ninth over’s second ball. It was pitched short and outside off the stump by Nathan Lyon. No one would have questioned Pujara’s quick rocking back to square cut delivery through the opposite side on any other surface. However, this Indore pitch was unique. In the initial hour, it was providing the most turn, 4.8 degrees. There was at least a couple of degrees less on the other two tests in the series.

The ball caught on to the surface, turned sharply back toward Pujara, stayed a little low, and didn’t give him time to adjust. As India lost their top three for the lowest score of the series (36), he had his stumps shaken.

When Pujara returned to the hut for 1, the expression on captain Rohit Sharma’s face said it all.

Ravindra Jadeja, the man in form with both the bat and the ball, hit another short one straight to the cover fielder, giving Lyon yet another wicket.

Shreyas Iyer, one of the best spinners, returned a ball to Kuhnemann’s stumps for a duck, giving Kuhnemann yet another breakthrough as India lost half their team for 44.

Cheteshwar Pujara, one of the stalwarts of Indian cricket, has been in the spotlight recently after he posted a video of his batting practice on his official Instagram handle. The film highlights the right-handed batsman honing his skills and working hard to overcome his recent form slump in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

A key component of the Indian Test team’s hitting order for years, Pujara is renowned for his intense practice regimen

The 35-year-recent old’s form, though, has been inconsistent, which is concerning for the Indian team. Pujara failed to give the Indian batting order the much-needed stability in the first Test match, scoring just 7 runs in one session. Pujara was dismissed for a duck in the first innings of the second Test encounter. He scored a match-winning 31 runs in the second innings to give India an unbeatable 2-0 advantage in the four-match Test series.

Pujara has always been an important player for India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, a highly anticipated match between India and Australia, despite the recent slump in form. The management of the Indian team and the team’s supporters will be praying that Pujara can find his form in the third Test match and help the team out.

In the video he shared on Instagram, Pujara demonstrates his resolve to return in the third Test match against Australia. Pujara can be seen playing a variety of shots in the film, which may indicate that he is perfecting his technique to fend off the Australian bowlers. “Prepping for the third,” read the caption on the footage.

Pujara’s work ethic has always been admirable, and the film is proof of his commitment to the sport. His contributions to the success of the Indian Test squad cannot be understated; he is renowned for his tenacious performances and strong defence.

Pujara’s performances have historically been essential to India’s success in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which is a highly anticipated competition. The third Test match represents India’s final opportunity to win the series, as the squad already has two victories. If India is to succeed, Pujara’s input will be crucial.

Despite Cheteshwar Pujara’s recent form slump, which has worried the Indian cricket team, footage of his intense practice sessions posted to Instagram indicates that he is determined to turn things around for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Pujara’s performance in the third Test match will be crucial to the success of the Indian team, as will the support of the team’s supporters.

12 players have gotten to Hundred Tests so far from the Indian Team. Cheteshwar Pujara, in all likeliness is set to be the 13th to join a list of privileged players who have played 100 Tests for the Indian Team. 100 Tests is a huge milestone, which often takes a really long time, requires a lot of consistency, and talent. After making his debut in 2010, Cheteshwar Pujara finally gets to the mark. His journey has seen some really good partnerships and has also had some really nice battles.

Cheteshwar Pujara, known to not be the most technically gifted, has toiled hard even before his international career started. He spent five years in domestic cricket, churning out the runs before finally getting a chance in international cricket. For a player who is really defensive, Cheteshwar Pujara is extensively bottom handed, and is a rare type of cricketer in the current generation. Rather than going after attacks, Cheteshwar Pujara has made a career out of biding his time and waiting for the right moment to attack, in old fashioned Test Cricket style.

His early exploits in Test Cricket gave evidence that he is a player who is here to stay. Coming in place of Rahul Dravid, Cheteshwar Pujara managed to replicate Dravid’s ability to hold out an end. He went with the strategy of playing out the best and taking on the part-timers, spinners or even the frontline bowlers towards the end of the day when they were fatigued. Through his career Cheteshwar Pujara has made it a habit of coming back strongly. His first visits to the SENA countries have all been forgettable outings.

Barring New Zealand though, where Cheteshwar Pujara has not played much, the returns on subsequent visits have gone better. After failing in England in 2014, Cheteshwar Pujara came back with a really good performance in 2018 including a 132 at Southampton. His average visits to Australia and South Africa too were followed up with some memorable performances in subsequent visits.

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Following his debut, Pujara quickly displayed his worth on Indian pitches and against spin bowling. His run-rate though and intent constantly came into question. With a dull tour of Australia in 2014, Pujara was dropped for his first time. He went on to make a comeback though, carrying the bat after opening the batting on a turning track in Sri Lanka in 2015, with a remarkable 145. The knock earnt him his spot back in the national side, on a regular basis, with Pujara proving that his style of playing patiently worked.

Critics still hung around though. His slow style of play continued to attract their attention as Pujara tended to be the first to be pointed at when things went off. He was dropped once again in the first Test against England in 2018, which was a really questionable move. As gritty as ever, Pujara came back and once again proved his worth with a century in Southampton. He was dropped once more after going through a three year period without a century. In the three year period though, Pujara still churned out decent scores in Australia and England.

Low scores in South Africa though led to his dropping. Pujara, determined though played some county cricket, dominated the proceedings there, and earnt his spot back in the Test side. The journey to a hundred Tests seemed in doubt, but a comeback, a fifty against England, and later a man of the series performance in Bangladesh made the dream seem possible again. He was dropped thrice through his career, and in between each of those droppings Pujara spent considerable time in domestic Cricket.

While his grit to stay in the Indian Team was an aspect throughout his career, Pujara’s grit against bowling attacks was the main aspect defining his journey as India’s number three. As a batter, he rarely looked to hit the ball in the air. On occasions where he does so thiough, Pujara would make his intentions clear. His ability to play percentage cricket is immense. On both his tours to Australia, and his initial exploits in South Africa too, Pujara gave examples of how his percentage cricket bought him runs.

With a solid game against spin, Pujara would constantly bide his time against the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, while he took on the likes of Nathan Lyon and Imran Tahir. He’d take blows to the body and frustrate bowlers to the core. The likes of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood publicly stated that they hated the sight of him with his ability to tire them out. He is impossible to bowl to for spinners, which is something Nathan Lyon knows well.

Over his 99 Tests, Nathan Lyon has bowled the most deliveries to him. He dismissed Pujara 12 times, but only once through the LBW. Through their battles he’s come up with a handful of strategies to trap Pujara, with all those strategies struggling to find success.

Against the Australian pacers too, Pujara had his methods. He’d offer his body, leave with conviction and does not offer his edge easily. Pat Cummins does tend to have an edge over him, however Pujara has done enough to annoy Cummins too, often giving his edge only after tiring Cummins out. With familiar methods, the Australians have tried a lot. They attacked his body in 2020-2021 with a short leg in place. The move worked with Pujara not scoring big, but he still managed to play a huge number of deliveries in each Test, facing more than 900 deliveries over the series to frustrate the bowlers.

In both his recent visits to Australia which often define his career, Pujara again gave an example of how he rations his shots. Waiting for his time, Pujara used his cut to perfection whenever Australia came short and wide.

Over the years, while most batters change their style or update their technique, Pujara remained the same. He stuck with his stubborn style of play, waiting for the moment and continued to play like Pujara. While his grit and ability to grind bowlers is often noted. there are a few more underrated aspects to him. One of them is his ability to hold one end against the best of the bowlers. A memorable example of this is battle with Vernon Philander in 2018. On a tough pitch, Philander had the Indians in all sorts of discomfort, Pujara though held one end up with ease.

His fitness is another aspect that goes unnoticed. Not the fastest runner between wickets Pujara still has done enough to prove his fitness given all his long knocks. Focusing only on one format, Pujara’s fitness for format and technique has been as strong as ever. Despite his form, he often goes back to domestic cricket in a bid to constantly improve his game.

His battles with bowlers is another interesting aspect in his long career. Through his career, Pujara’s battles with James Anderson, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon remain memorable. Each of has dismissed Pujara on numerous occasions throughout their careers, but Pujara has done enough against them to stay in the respective contests. Despite dismissals to them, Pujara found runs against the same bowlers, which has led to some nailbiting battles against each of them.

Within the Indian team, Cheteshwar Pujara has found a handful of reliable partners throughout his career, and each partner helped bring a new dimension to the Test. He is a player who is loved by his teammates. Known for his focus and work ethic, Mohammad Rizwam, Pakistan’s wicket-keeper, himself claimed that he has not seen anyone like Pujara, when the pair spent time together at Sussex.

Within the Indian batting line-up, Pujara has found partners who provide something new to the Indian Team each time. His most famous partnerships in the batting line-up includes Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant. With Vijay, Pujara often had partnerships which frustrated the bowlers. Both batters are really good at leaving the ball and play on the patience of the bowlers. Together, they managed to pull India out of a handful of sticky situations.

With Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara often found himself playing the patient role, while taking on the tougher bowlers as the other two attacked from the other end. In recent times though, Rishabh Pant has emerged as an interesting partner for Pujara. With Pant’s flamboyance in the other end, and Pujara’s rock solid defense, both used their contrasting natures to create some magical partnerships for the Indian Team.

He is loved by his teammates and is also famous for the fact that he never loses an argument, as mentioned by Ravichandran Ashwin. Now, after thirteen long years, and a really good period with the same group of cricketers, after countless battles and partnerships, Pujara finally makes it to the 100 Test mark. Despite not having the most vocal of fans, Pujara has been a player watched closely with his one-of-a-kind style of play. With his character alone he has given the cricketing World a handful of memories, and it is fitting that he plays his 100th Test against Australia, against whom he has had countless battles. Nathan Lyon and co await him for now in the hope that they have many more such battles to come.

72 vs Australia at Bangalore 2010

After waiting for an opportunity and toiling for five long years, Cheteshwar Pujara finally got his chance against Australia in the second Test in 2010. His long-awaited debut though did not start well. After waiting with his pads on for nearly six hours, A shooter claimed Cheteshwar Pujara for four in his first innings.

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In the second innings though, Pujara got his opportunity to go out to bat at number three, in place of his idol, Rahul Dravid. The move to try him at number three served well as Pujara eventually made that spot his own. Unlike his normal style of play though, Pujara came out with intent and looked to race towards a target of 207. He took the bowlers on, made 72, killed the chase and took India close to the target as his dream of making a mark in the Indian Team finally began.

153 vs South Africa at Johannesburg 2013

Pujara’s overall record overseas may not be as good as his home record. The star number three though has so many knocks overseas, which proves that he is more than just numbers. His 153 in Johannesburg in 2013 is one such innings. It was his second tour to South Africa and Pujara had a point to prove. On his first visit, facing pacy conditions for the first time in 2010, with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel coming at him Cheteshwar Pujara was all at sea.

In 2013, with some experience on his side, Cheteshwar Pujara came back a different player. He faced the same deadly duo and looked a lot more assured. His partnership with Virat Kohli put India in a commanding position as the partnership also marked the start of an important partnership for Indian Cricket. He went on to make 153 runs, handling the bowlers well, and waiting for his chance, which he took when the likes of JP Duminy and Imran Tahir came on.

92 and 202, vs Australia at Ranchi and Bangalore in 2017

The 2017 Border Gavaskar Trophy remains one of the best series between the two sides. With India trailing in the series, and trailing in the Test at Bangalore the heat was on. Virat Kohli was dismissed, Murali Vijay wasn’t in the eleven, and Rahane joined him when India were leading by a mere 33 runs on a spitting track which kept dishing out shooters. The duo though proved to be as dependable as ever. They kept the shooters out, and blunted the spinners with Pujara going on to make a crucial 92. The track was getting tougher but Pujara hung around, batting with a lot of character. His knock kept India in the game and series as they had enough to win the Test Match.

After keeping India in the series, Cheteshwar Pujara went on to frustrate the Australians with a resilient display at Ranchi. With the Australians fighting Tooth and Nail, India were again in a tough situation. An incredible century from Steve Smith saw Australia get to 451. In response, India started decently. Pujara built a good partnership with Murali Vijay, but with Virat Kohli injured the heat was on. After lunch, on day three, India lost Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair quickly.

Cheteshwar Pujara though grounded the Australian bowlers again. He kept kicking away deliveries that were outside leg, wore blows and single-handedly told the Aussies that they’d have to go over his dead body to win the Test. He played his longest Test innings, irritating Nathan Lyon yet again, facing 525 balls for his 202.

50 vs South Africa

The Johannesburg Test in 2018 was clear evidence of Cheteshwar Pujara’s reliance and stubbornness to stay at the crease. Few overs into the Test it was evident that runs on the track they were playing on was a mere illusion. The ball was jumping and a laying low of the same length, giving the batters a lot of nightmares. Pujara though, with a bad series behind him stuck to his methods. He did not offer his edge, kept wearing balls onto his body and looked as ugly as ever. He took 54 balls to get off the mark and went onto make his slowest half-century, hanging around on what was one of the toughest and treacherous pitches to bat on.

123 and 193 vs Australia at Adelaide and Sydney, 2018-2019

India came to Australia in 2018 with their best chance of beating Australia in Australia ahead of them. Smith and Warner were out, and it was all in India’s favor. The tables though turned quickly. The pace trio of Australia had India struggling at 3-19. Pujara though was intact. It was his second time in Australia, after an average time in 2014. The heat was on, but Pujara quickly showed his improvement over the years. He did a lot of homework before coming into the tour, and looked very comfortable against the bounce. His approach against Nathan Lyon was a notable stand-out. Frustrating the pacers, Pujara held out an end, making his 50 in 153 balls, before he changed gears handsomely.

After his 50, Pujara took the bowlers on. With partners running out, he used his square-cut well against pace and also took Lyon nicely. He finished with 123, hit two sixes, and played possibly his best knock overseas as Pujara single-handedly took India to 250, which turned out to be enough for them to win the Test. Later in the series, with another century in Melbourne, India and Pujara went to Sydney leading in the series.

In Sydney, with the Australians already going through the motions, Pujara grinded and grinded hard. He made 193 runs, and absolutely got on the nerves of the Australian bowlers. During the course of the innings, Nathan Lyon went to the extent of asking if he was bored after batting for so long. His exploits in that series earnt him the player of the series award.

55 vs Australia at Brisbane

The 2021 tour to Australia was memorable for many reasons. Pujara was one of the few players who made it through without too many injury concerns. At Brisbane, with a target of 329 and a day to bat out the heat was on. The Test had a large number of Indian youngsters stand up while Pujara, the old-timer in the group played a knock with as much resilience and character as some of his best. He took ten blows to the body, battered on the fingers, chest, shoulders and also took a blow to the helmet. He still battled his way through and helped India take the game deep as they batted with freedom later in the innings with the target closer and a draw looking like a safe option if things got sticky.