Stats: Cheteshwar Pujara continues spectacular home form

On the back of Cheteshwar Pujara’s 11^th Test century, India ended day three still trailing by 91 runs in the third Test against Australia at Ranchi. Murali Vijay just fell short of another Test ton but Pujara ensured that India are still in the game courtesy of his century.

Extra Cover: In pictures: Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell mock Virat Kohli after his dismissal on day 3

After Vijay and Pujara put India in a good position following another century partnership, India lost Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in quick succession. None of the other batsmen managed to get going barring the Saurashtra batsman who is unbeaten on 130 as India ended day three on 360/6.

Here are some interesting statistical highlights from day three of the Ranchi Test:

1 – Cheteshwar Pujara became the first batsman in Test history to score a century in the maiden Test of four venues (Indore, Rajkot, Vizag and Ranchi). Seven players have done it at three venues but Pujara is the first to do it at four.

1 – Only VVS Laxman has scored more centuries in an Indian first-class season than Cheteshwar Pujara. Laxman scored eight, Pujara has seven in the 2016/17 season.

2 – Pujara is currently in second place as far as most runs in the 2016/17 season is concerned. Only Virat Kohli (1,252 runs) has scored more than Pujara’s 1,187 runs.

4 – In the last 10 years, this is India’s fourth-slowest innings according to run rate when they have scored at least 300 runs. Their run rate in the first innings of the Ranchi Test is 2.76 and their slowest in the last 10 years came against England at Nagpur in 2012 where their run rate was just 2.27.

5 – Ravichandran Ashwin has been dismissed for single-digit scores in five consecutive innings in this series. His run of scores, which read 1,8,7, 4 and 3 is the first he has been dismissed in single digits in five consecutive innings.

6 – Vijay and Pujara have six century partnerships in the 2016/17 season, which is the second-most by any pair in a season. Only Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting (7 in 2005/06) have more century partnerships in a season.

7 – Pujara has seven first-class centuries in this Indian first-class season. He equals Pataudi and Gavaskar who also made seven in an Indian first-class season.

961 – Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir hold the Indian record for most runs by a pair in a season. Vijay and Pujara are now just seven runs behind them with possibly three more innings to play in the 2016/17 season.

2010 – India’s top three (KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara) all scored fifty in the same innings. The last time this happened in a Test was against New Zealand in Nagpur in 2010.