Cheteshwar Pujara ends a century-long drought!

Cheteshwar Pujara ends a century-long drought : At the first Test match between India and Bangladesh on Friday in Chattogram, Cheteshwar Pujara scored his maiden Test century in 1443 days.

On his way to a 19th Test match hundred, Pujara struck 13 fours. Pujara raced in the last stages of his stay to manage the hundred as the Indian side looked to declare its second innings with a lead approaching 500. This was Pujara’s quickest Test hundred after 130 deliveries. His second 50 runs came in 43 balls, whereas his first 50 runs required 87 deliveries.

When skipper KL Rahul concluded the innings with a lead of 512 runs, the 34-year-old was still undefeated at 102 runs. On the other end, Virat Kohli batted, scoring 19 runs off of 29 pitches.

Pujara last reached a century in this format against Australia in Sydney in January 2019. His last Test appearance was in the fifth Test against England in Birmingham, which was delayed until July. In the game, he had scores of 13 and 66. Pujara made his comeback to the Test squad in the Birmingham match after being benched for the two-match series against Sri Lanka in March due to a decline in performance.

Pujara, who was making his comeback, had a fruitful season in the County Championship Division Two in 2022, scoring eight hundreds for Sussex across all forms, including three doubles. With a total of 1094 runs scored at an average of 109.4 over the course of 13 innings in the Championship, he led Sussex in run scoring. In the 50-over Royal London Cup, he finished second in run scoring with three hundreds as Sussex advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Reminiscence :

The Sydney Cricket Ground hosted Pujara’s last Test against Australia on January 2, 2019. (SCG). The right-handed batsman scored more than 600 runs in the series, including three centuries and a double tonne, as India won a Test series on Australian territory for the first time in history and defended the Border Gavaskar Trophy. That performance was the series’ clincher.

Pujara was removed three times in the 90s since that time, including in the first innings of this Test match when he left the field after a crucial 90-run performance that saved India from a top-order collapse.

Also, read : https://www.sportstrumpet.com/australia-releases-their-playing-xi-for-world-test-championship23/