Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara
Personal information
Full name Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara
Born (1988-01-25) 25 January 1988
Rajkot, Gujarat, India
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Batting Right-handed
Bowling Right arm leg break
Role Top order Batsman
Relations Arvind Pujara (father)
Bipin Pujara (uncle)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 266) 9 October 2010 v Australia
Last Test 12 October 2018 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 198) 1 August 2013 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI 19 June 2014 v Bangladesh
ODI shirt no. 16
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005–present Saurashtra (squad no. 15 (formerly 16))
2008–2010 Kolkata Knight Riders
2011–2013 Royal Challengers Bangalore
2014 Kings XI Punjab (squad no. 266)
2014 Derbyshire
2015 Yorkshire
2017 Nottinghamshire
2018 Yorkshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 63 5 170 94
Runs scored 4,895 51 13,416 4,211
Batting average 49.95 10.20 54.98 55.40
100s/50s 15/19 0/0 44/45 11/27
Top score 206* 27 352 158*
Balls bowled 6 – 237 6
Wickets – – 5 0
Bowling average – – 29.20 –
5 wickets in innings – – 0 –
10 wickets in match – n/a 0 n/a
Best bowling – – 2/4 –
Catches/stumpings 40/– 0/– 120/– 34/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 12 October 2018

Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara (born 25 January 1988) is an Indian international cricketer who plays Test matches for Indian national team and Saurashtra in domestic cricket. He is a right-handed batsman who made his first-class debut for Saurashtra in December 2005 and made his Test debut at Bangalore in October 2010.[1]

He was a part of the India A team which toured England in the 2010 summers, and was the highest scorer of the tour. In October 2011, the BCCI awarded him a D grade national contract. Known to have a sound technique and the temperament required to play long innings, he was one of the contenders for a spot in the Indian middle order after the retirement of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.[2]

His Test comeback came against New Zealand in August 2012, scoring a century. He made his first double hundred against England at Ahmedabad in November 2012[3] and followed up with another double hundred against Australia in March 2013, both the times steering India to victory and becoming man of the match.[4]

In the 2012 NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, he was the highest scorer with two centuries and one half century. He became one of the fastest batsman to reach 1000 runs in Test cricket in just 11 matches and his 18th Test Innings. He won the Emerging Cricketer of the Year 2013.[5]

In February 2017, during the one-off Test match against Bangladesh, he set a new record for the most runs by a batsman in an Indian first-class season, with 1,605 runs.[6] The previous record was 1,604 runs set by Chandu Borde in 1964–65.[6] In November 2017, he scored his twelfth double-century in first-class cricket, the most by an Indian batsman, breaking the previous record set by Vijay Merchant.[7][8] He is regarded as India's Test match specialist.

Early life

Cheteshwar Pujara was born in Rajkot, Gujarat on 25 January 1988. His father, Arvind Pujara, was a Ranji Trophy player for Saurashtra. His father and his mother, Reema Pujara, recognized his talents early and Cheteshwar practised with his father. Cheteshwar Pujara completed his BBA.

Youth career

Pujara made his Under-19 Test debut for India against England in 2005. Opening the innings, he scored 211 runs to help India win by an innings and 137 runs. He was also picked in the Indian squad for the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup after scoring three fifties in four innings of the Afro-Asia Under-19 Cup. He was the leading run-scorer of the Under-19 World Cup where he scored 349 runs from 6 innings, including three fifties and a century, at an average of 117. He was the Man of the Tournament for the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup

He scored 97 runs against the West Indies in the quarterfinals before scoring 129 runs not out against England in the semifinals, helping India win by a huge margin of 234 runs. However, he was dismissed for a duck in the final, against Pakistan, which India eventually lost.

Domestic career

He scored 10 & 203* from just 221 balls against Madhya Pradesh at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium at Rajkot to ensure a 203-run victory which made them qualify to the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy quarter finals.

In his next match, the quarter final at Saurashtra University in Rajkot against Karnataka, he scored 37 & 352 (dismissed by off spinner K.Gowtham in both innings) to ensure that Saurashtra qualify to the semifinal. Though he was called to the India ODI Squad after this success, yet he was not selected in the first XI.

In 2013, at the age of only 25, Pujara became only the ninth batsman to score three career first-class triple-centuries. His scores were: 302* for Saurashtra against Orissa in 2008/09, 352 for Saurashtra against Karnataka in 2012/13, and 306* for India A against West Indies A in 2013/14.[9] He also holds a record of scoring three triple centuries within a span of one month, although only the last of these was in a first-class match.[10]

Pujara played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three seasons of the IPL. In the 2011 players' auction, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He started for RCB for the fourth season of the IPL before injuring his knee in a match against Kochi Tuskers Kerala. The injury kept him out of action for nearly a year before he returned to domestic cricket at the end of 2011.

In the 2013–14 Ranji Trophy, he played a lone hand against Bengal at Eden Gardens in November as he scored 102, though his side was bowled out for a meagre 225 in response to Bengal's 303. In the next match against Tamil Nadu at Chennai, he scored a mammoth 269, and struck a 353-run partnership with Jaydev Shah (195) to post a score of 581/6 in response to Tamil Nadu's 565.[11]

In 2014 IPL, Pujara began the season as Virender Sehwag's opening partner and was left out after the first six matches in which he made 125 runs at an average of just 25 at a strike rate of 100.80. After having not been picked by any franchise for the 2015 IPL season, he signed for Yorkshire.[12]

He was the leading run-scorer for Saurashtra in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 437 runs in four matches.[13]

International career

Test debut

Pujara was selected for the Indian squad for the 12 match home Test series against Australia in 2010, replacing Yuvraj Singh. He made his debut in the second Test of the series on 9 October 2010 at Bangalore after both Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman were down with injuries sustained in the First Test.

While Laxman was off the field injured in the First Test, Pujara took two catches at silly point as a substitute. In his first Test innings, Pujara scored four runs before getting out LBW to Mitchell Johnson on the third ball he faced.

In the second innings, Pujara was sent in at number three in place of Rahul Dravid in a tactical change by captain MS Dhoni. With India needing 207 runs to win, he made 72 before being bowled by an arm ball from Nathan Hauritz.

Breakthrough

In August 2012, he made a comeback into the team and made his first International Test century, 159 against New Zealand at Hyderabad.

He was selected in India's squad to play four test matches against England. In the first match at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad he made an unbeaten 206 runs and help his to win the match and go 1–0 up in the series. He was also named man of the match for his inning. He continued his good form when he made another hundred in the second match at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. He not only made big scores in next two matches but end the series as second highest run scorer behind England captain Alastair Cook with 438 runs.

He became the 2nd fastest Indian to get to 1,000 Test runs, during the course of his double hundred against Australia in March 2013, at Hyderabad, where he put on a 370-run record 2nd wicket partnership with Murali Vijay. Only Vinod Kambli was faster.

Pujara is also the 12th fastest of all-time. In terms of the number of tests (11 matches), he joined the legendary Sunil Gavaskar for the quickest Indian to reach the mark. Pujara had a brilliant test series against Australia scoring 419 runs, only second to Murali Vijay's 430 in which he slammed a double ton's 204 and two half-centuries (52 and 82).[14]

As Indian opener Virender Sehwag was struggling out of form, it provided the opportunity for Pujara who hit double and triple tons in successive Ranji trophy matches to prove his ability in shorter versions of the game, as he was selected in the 15 member squad for the ODI series against England, but was injured in practice. Following injury, he made his debut against Zimbabwe, scoring 9 runs.[15]

Cementing his place

On India's tour to South Africa in 2013, he emerged as the highest run-scorer in the Test series, scoring 280 runs at an average of 70.00.[16]

Pujara was picked for the Indian squad for the 2014 Asia Cup to be held in Bangladesh. Pujara played in the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh in June 2014 and made 0, 11 & 27 respectively.

Struggle with form

Pujara was named in the 16-man squad for the 2014 tour of England. With a best of 55 and a total of 222 runs in five Tests, he had a disappointing series. Despite getting good starts, he failed to convert them into big scores, struggling with his back foot movement and playing with a straighter bat,[17] while also facing difficulty against the seaming ball.[18] He was not a part of the squad for the ODI series that followed and upon receiving permission from the BCCI, signed for Derbyshire to play in their last three games of the season.[19] After a poor first game, he finished the stint scoring 212 runs, that included an unbeaten 90 in the win over Surrey[20] and an unbeaten century against Leicestershire.[21]

He returned to form during the three-match test series against Sri Lanka Cricket Team in August 2015. He scored 145 not out in the third test against Sri Lanka Cricket team. He also played in 2014 Border Gavaskar Trophy. In the first match at Adelaide Oval he made 73 runs in the first inning before being bowled by a Nathan Lyon delivery.

Return to form

He continued to work on his game, however, and remained in the reckoning for a national comeback. He made the most of an injury set-back to Murali Vijay in the 2015 series in Sri Lanka, reminding the selectors of his mettle by carrying his bat through his epic unbeaten 145 on an uncharacteristically seaming wicket at the SSC, Colombo, paving the way for an Indian win in the decider. Pujara has raised the bar even further since then, hammering routine hundreds during India's long home season and the odd series in Sri Lanka and West Indies. In the first Test of Australia's 2016–17 tour of India in Pune, Pujara was dismissed for 6 and 31 in the two innings, with India losing the match cheaply. He played a key role in India's second inning of second Test scoring a crucial 92 in Bangalore, and helped the team win the game.[22] In the third Test, played in Ranchi, Pujara scored 202, his third double-hundred, off 525 balls, in the first innings. In terms of balls faced, it was the longest inning by an Indian batsman.[23] The 11-hour knock included a 199-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha for the seventh wicket. Following a fightback by Australia in the second innings, the match ended in a draw and Pujara was named man of the match.[24] With the knock, Pujara became the first Indian to score 2,000 runs in an Indian single first-class cricket season.[25] In the ICC Batsman Rankings announced following the game, Pujara was ranked a career-best second.[26] He finished the season with 1,316 runs in Tests, the second most in a single season after Australia's Ricky Ponting (1,483).[27] He also broke the record for the most runs scored in a first-class season by an Indian.[28] At the end of the season, he was placed fourth in the Batsman Rankings for Tests.[29]

In May, ahead of the first Test of the 2017 season, he signed for Nottinghamshire on a four-match contract as a replacement to James Pattinson, to play in Division Two of the County season.[30] He scored a hundred in his first game, against Gloucestershire, scoring 112 and adding 185 runs for the fourth wicket.[31] The stint ended with 233 runs in a total of five innings.[32] Carrying the good form, he scored his 12th Test century in the first Test of the tour of Sri Lanka at Galle in July. Striking a partnership with Shikhar Dhawan who made 190, Pujara scored 153 off 265 balls,[33] helping India record its biggest away Test win.[34] He scored another hundred in the second Test, his 50th, a first innings knock of 133. On course of the innings, he went past 4,000 runs, becoming the second fastest Indian to get there in terms of number of innings batted.[35]. Against England in the away test series in England, Pujara was dropped from the team for the first test, which India went on to lose. He was then picked for the second test at Lord’s in which India were thrashed by an innings and 159 runs. In the third match, Pujara had scores of 14 and 72, a match that India won by 203 runs. In the fourth test, he went on to score his first century in England, only his second outside the subcontinent at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton, in another loss for India.

Records

  • Pujara passed 2,000 runs in a year. He scored 2,043 runs at 102.15 in first-class matches in 2013. Only Chris Rogers with 2,391 runs at 48.79 from 28 matches made more in 2013.
  • His 222-run partnership with Virat Kohli is India's third highest in South Africa and their highest in the second innings of a Test in South Africa.
  • Second fastest 1,000 test runs by Indian player.[36]
  • Highest second innings score of 153 by any Indian batsmen in South Africa.
  • Most balls faced by an Indian in a test innings: 525.
  • Pujara climbed to a career-best number 2 spot in the rankings for Test batsmen after his double century against Australia in March 2017.[37]
  • He is the third batsman for India, and ninth overall, to bat on all five days of a Test.[38]

Personal life

Pujara is the son of Arvind Pujara and the nephew of Bipin Pujara, both of whom played for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy.

When he was 17, his mother died due to cancer. He married Puja Pabari in Rajkot on 13 February 2013. In February 2014, he was appointed as the 'brand ambassador' for the state of Gujarat by the Election Commission.[39]

References

  1. ↑ "Cheteshwar Pujara". Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  2. ↑ Marks, Vic (16 November 2012). "India can build their future on Cheteshwar Pujara". The Guardian. Ahmedabad. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "Spinners strike after Pujara double ton". Wisden India. 15 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "India vs Australia, 2nd Test at Hyderabad scorecard". Wisden India. 4 March 2013.
  5. ↑ The Guardian (13 December 2013). "Ashes captains Clarke and Cook both hit a ton and pick up an annual award". Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Pujara breaks record for most runs in an Indian first-class season". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "Pujara back to old ways, scores 12th double-century". ESPN Cricinfo. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  8. ↑ "Cheteshwar Pujara goes past Vijay Merchant's all-time double-ton record in FC cricket". Scroll.in. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  9. ↑ Sidharth Monga (11 October 2013). "Pujara's third triple-century sets up huge lead". ESPN Cricinfo.
  10. ↑ Pujara slams third triple ton in a month, this time against Orissa. The Indian Express. Retrieved on 22 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "Group B: Tamil Nadu v Saurashtra at Chennai, Nov 28 – Dec 1, 2013 – Cricket Scorecard – ESPN Cricinfo". Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Yorkshire sign Pujara after Younis pulls out". ESPN Cricinfo. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Ranji Trophy, 2017/18: Saurashtra batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "Fastest to 1,000 Test runs". ESPNCricinfo. 4 March 2013.
  15. ↑ Cheteshwar Pujara | Cricket Players and Officials. ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved on 16 November 2012.
  16. ↑ "Batting records – Test matches – Cricinfo Statsguru – ESPN Cricinfo". Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  17. ↑ Monga, Sidharth (18 August 2014). "Bhuvneshwar dragged down by the rest". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  18. ↑ Chopra, Aakash (17 November 2014). "Pujara and the challenge of being a Test-only batsman". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  19. ↑ "Derbyshire win race for Pujara". ESPN Cricinfo. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  20. ↑ "Godleman, Pujara seal Derbyshire victory". ESPN Cricinfo. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Derbyshire keen on Pujara return". ESPN Cricinfo. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  22. ↑ Coverdale, Brydon (7 March 2017). "Ashwin bowls India to series-levelling win". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  23. ↑ Seervi, Bharath (19 March 2017). "Pujara plays India's longest innings". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  24. ↑ "Unsung heroes Pujara, Saha add steel to India's armoury". rediff.com. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  25. ↑ Menon, Mohandas (21 March 2017). "The Smith and Pujara batting show". Wisden India. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  26. ↑ "Jadeja pips Ashwin to No.1, Pujara climbs to second in ICC rankings". ESPN Cricinfo. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  27. ↑ Dutta, Subhasish (26 March 2017). "Cheteshwar Pujara breaks Gautam Gambhir's eight-year-old record". India Today. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  28. ↑ "Pujara breaks record for most runs in an Indian first-class season". ESPN Cricinfo. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  29. ↑ "ICC Test Rankings: KL Rahul jumps to 11th place; Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin top two bowlers". The Indian Express. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  30. ↑ "Pujara joins Nottinghamshire as Pattinson cover". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  31. ↑ Culley, John (26 May 2017). "Pujara reacquaints himself with what he does best". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  32. ↑ "Would love to play in County cricket again: Pujara". The Times of India. 2 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  33. ↑ Loganathan, Vishaal (27 July 2017). "Cheteshwar Pujara does his job once again". CricBuzz. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  34. ↑ "India's biggest away win, SL's biggest defeat". ESPN Cricinfo. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  35. ↑ "India v Sri Lanka: Cheteshwar Pujara joint second-fastest Indian to 4,000 Test runs". The Times of India. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  36. ↑ "Fastest 1000 runs". cricinfo. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  37. ↑ Dorjey Sahni, Mendra. "Pujara Overtakes Kohli, Jadeja Takes Sole Lead in ICC Rankings". www.thequint.com. The Quint. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  38. ↑ "Cheteshwar Pujara third Indian to bat on all five days of a Test". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  39. ↑ Sarath (22 February 2014). "Cheteshwar Pujara appointed as brand ambassador of Gujarat State Election Commission – Sportskeeda". Sportskeeda.com.
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