Cheteshwar Pujara – The Indian run-machine

Cheteshwar Pujara

What a classic display of skill, patience and timing by Cheteshwar Pujara. He has made 135 brilliant runs today and the way he has progressed, it will not be surprising if he gives us a delightful double century to savour. This splendid performance amply justifies the fact that he is the only Indian batsman in the top 10 of the ICC rankings. He is standing proudly at number 7 in the world rankings.

Today’s performance has again established him as a dependable and contented cricketer. He has displayed excellent footwork and a great level of skill. He will be completing 26 years of age on 25-01-2014. So far, he has played 15 tests and scored 1310 runs – his highest being 206. His test batting average is an excellent 65.50.

He has been in great form recently. On 28-11-2013, while playing for Saurashtra against Tamil Nadu, he had scored a massive 269 runs. Prior to this, he had scored 102 runs against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy.

Pujara has always scored big. His first class record speaks volumes about the talent he possesses. In his 81 first class matches, he has scored 6633 runs with the average of 60.30. This includes 21 centuries and 25 half-centuries. Let us have a glimpse at his background.

Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara was born on 25 January 1988 in Rajkot, Gujarat. Incidentally, his father A S Pujara also played first class cricket for Gujarat. This right hand batsman is representing Saurashtra since 2005.

He is one player who basically relies on his solid batting technique and he has got the temperament to play long innings. A fan of Pujara had once correctly defined that while Kohli has got the aggression of Sehwag, Pujara’s style is more like Dravid.

In the Ranji trophy, he once scored a double century followed by a triple century. Owing to his composed style of batting, he has become the second fastest Indian to reach the 1000-run mark.

It is very difficult to get him out once he is set. In fact a lot was expected from him in the first innings also but due to bad luck, he got run out in a fumble.

Captain MS Dhoni had always imposed a great level of faith on the capabilties of Pujara, and gladly, he has been able to live up to the high hopes. He is definitely the face of the future for Indian batting. He can really lend some solidity to the Indian batting line up. Hope he fills the void left by Rahul Dravid.