Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara has kicked off the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season with a bang against the Jharkhand team in Saurashtra’s opening game of the tournament at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. He slammed a double-century, powering Saurashtra to a huge first-innings lead in the match.
Cheteshwar Pujara walked out to bat at Number four, after the fall of Sheldon Jackson’s wicket when Saurashtra was 135 for the loss of two wickets. Pujara got together with Arpit Vasavada to capitalise on the score. The duo together added 146 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. After Vasavada’s dismissal, Pujara and Prerak Mankad put on an unbeaten 256 runs stand.
Cheteshwar Pujara showcased his brilliance in the innings as he slammed an unbeaten double-century. He scored 243 runs off 356 deliveries, with thirty boundaries. Prerak Mankad also smashed a century scoring 104 runs, including twelve boundaries. Saurashtra declared the innings for 578, taking a 436-run lead. They have reduced Jharkhand to 140 for the loss of two wickets at the end of day three at Rajkot.
𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘀𝗵𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗣𝘂𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮! 💯💯
A spectacular 2⃣0⃣0⃣ in Rajkot from the Saurashtra batter! 👏👏
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/xYOBkksyYt#RanjiTrophy | #SAUvJHA | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @saucricket | @cheteshwar1 pic.twitter.com/ofLZSf2qcl
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 7, 2024
Cheteshwar Pujara moves fourth in the Most Double Centuries list
Cheteshwar Pujara’s double-century against Jharkhand is his seventeenth in first-class cricket. He is now fourth on the list of Most double-centuries in first-class cricket. Sir Donald Bradman tops the list with 37 double-centuries and is followed by Wally Hammond with 36 double-hundreds. Elias Henry Hendre is third with 22 double-centuries. Pujara is joint fourth along with Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash.
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara overtook VVS Laxman in the list of most first-class (FC) runs among Indians in the history of the game. He has scored 19569 runs at an average of 51.36, meanwhile, Laxman has 19,730 runs in his first-class career. Sunil Gavaskar tops the list with 25,834 runs, followed by Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 25,396 runs. Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid is currently third on the list with 23,794 runs, followed by Cheteshwar Pujara.
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