Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara scored a fine century in the Ranji Trophy match against Jharkhand on Saturday at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot. The talismanic batter started the Ranji Trophy on a positive note as he will be aiming to make a return in India’s Test set-up. Pujara last played for India in the World Test Championship Final 2023 where the Asian Giants suffered a defeat to Australia.
Pujara put Saurashtra in the driver’s seat with a sublime century after his team bundled out Jharkhand for just 142.
The 35-year-old batter hit 12 boundaries to reach the triple-digit mark. He didn’t stop after that and converted it into a 150. He remained unbeaten on 157 off 237 balls at stumps. He has hit 19 fours so far in his brilliant knock.
That moment when @cheteshwar1 reached his It’s been a solid knock so far, laced with 12 fours @IDFCFIRSTBank | #RanjiTrophy
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/xYOBkksyYt pic.twitter.com/T2KjJGTRrL
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 6, 2024
Pujara shared a 146-run stand for the fourth wicket with Arpit Vasavada (68) to put Saurashtra on top.
The veteran India batter has performed consistently well for Saurashtra for a long time but the recent dip of form in international cricket led to his snub from India’s Test team. The BCCI is yet to announce the Test squad for England Test series and with his performance in the Ranji Trophy, he will be aiming to make a comeback.
Recently, veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh was unimpressed with India not picking senior batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane for the big tour of South Africa. The duo has good experience of playing in the Proteas conditions.
The Turbanator asserted that Cheteshwar Pujara is still one of the best Test batters in India and his exclusion is questionable.
“Didn’t select Ajinkya Rahane and have left Cheteshwar Pujara out for no reason. These are the two players who have scored runs everywhere. If you look at the previous record Pujara has the same contribution as Kohli had. I don’t understand why Pujara has been left out, we still don’t have a better batter than Puajra in Test cricket. He plays slowly but he saves you, because of him India won Test in Australia and England,” said Harbhajan on his YouTube channel.
Earlier, on Day 1, Aafive-wicket haul by pace-bowling stalwart Chirag Jani and a half-century by opener Harvik Desai helped defending champions Saurashtra take the honours. Jani returned with figures of 11-6-22-5, his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
Desai went on to score 85 runs on Day 2 before Anukul Roy got the better of him.
Comments
0 comment