Veteran middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara became the fourth Indian batter to amass 20,000 runs in first-class cricket. He reached this milestone during Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha in Nagpur.
In the game, Pujara performed admirably. He made 43 off 105 balls in the opening inning, including four boundaries and a six. He scored 10 boundaries and 66 runs off 137 balls later in the second inning. Saurashtra won the match by a margin of 238 runs.
Pujara has scored 20,013 runs at an average of 51.98 in 260 first-class matches. In this format, he has tallied 61 hundreds and 78 fifties; his highest score is 352.
Legends like Rahul Dravid (23,794 runs), Sachin Tendulkar (25,396 runs), and Sunil Gavaskar (25,896 runs) are ranked above him in the list.
Pujara amassed 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60 in 103 Test matches for India, with 19 hundreds and 35 fifties in 176 innings. His highest rating is 206.
But in June 2023, Pujara played his final Test match for India against Australia in the UK at the ICC World Test Championship final.
He hasn’t been a part of the Test team since, even for the home five-Test series starting on January 25 against England.