Who was the last man to play 100 Tests for India?

Ravichandran Ashwin became the 14th Indian player to play 100 Test matches as he reached the milestone during the ongoing Test against England in Dharamsala. The veteran off-spinner has already made a significant contribution in his landmark Test by picking up four wickets and helping the hosts bowl England out for just 218.

Playing 100 Tests is not just a testament to a player's success, but also to the drive and the hunger needed to sustain the longevity. With T20 cricket quickly spreading its wings, it is difficult to determine whether one would see many more players breaching the 100-Test mark in the longest format.

Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara was the previous Indian to achieve the feat of playing 100 Tests for the country. While he hasn't featured in Tests since the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final, Pujara has been the backbone of Indian batting in Tests in the past decade.

---

Cheteshwar Pujara played his 100th Test for India against Australia in Delhi

Cheteshwar Pujara seemed to have loved batting against Australia. It was thus fitting that he played his 100th Test against the same opposition during the 2023 Border Gavaskar Trophy at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

A fine 72 from Peter Handscomb allowed Australia to get to 263 in their first innings. On a pitch that had started to play tricks, India's batters found life pretty difficult. Pujara was dismissed for a duck and at 139/7, it looked like the visitors would take a massive first-innings lead.

Just then, Axar Patel stepped up with an incredible rearguard action where he scored 74 off 115 balls. He added 114 runs with Ashwin for the eighth wicket and ensured India conceded a lead of just one run.

The pressure was now on the Aussies, with the momentum having shifted towards the hosts. Travis Head did score a brisk 45, but the visitors had a shocking batting collapse that proved to be decisive in terms of the result of the game.

Ravindra Jadeja picked up stunning figures of 7/42 as Australia were bundled out for just 113 despite being 85/2 at one stage. The target of 115 wasn't really big enough to challenge the hosts even when they had to bat last. Pujara remained unbeaten on 31* as India wrapped up the win by six wickets.

It was a massive day in the series as Rohit Sharma and co. retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 2-0 lead. Australia won the next game in Indore, but a draw was enough for the hosts in Ahmedabad to seal the series 2-1. Pujara continues to score truckload of runs in domestic cricket, doing whatever is in his control to remain in contention for a potential comeback.