Ranji Trophy: Cheteshwar Pujara clobbers his 63rd First-Class century
Saurashtra talisman Cheteshwar Pujara continued his purple patch on Day 2 against Manipur in the 2024 Ranji Trophy. The veteran batter astonishingly hammered his 63rd First-Class century and his third of the ongoing campaign. Pujara, who batted lower than his usual number, smoked a blazing 108-run knock laced with 12 boundaries and a six. Eventually, Saurashtra declared for 529/6 in the first innings.
A blazing knock from Pujara
Pujara was out in the middle at number six when Saurashtra were 293/4 following Arpit Vasavada's dismissal. He started slowly but soon shifted gears as he pounced on the loose and inconsistent deliveries from the Manipuri bowlers. Pujara stitched a 231-run partnership with Prerak Mankad, who also hammered a century. It was Ronald Longjam, who dismissed Pujara after he reached his ton.
Pujara hammered his third century of the 2024 Ranji Trophy
Pujara started his 2024 Ranji Trophy campaign with a stunning 243* against Jharkhand. He got starts in both innings against Haryana but couldn't convert. He slammed a 66 against Vidarbha in the following match. He missed out on a well-deserved ton against Services (91). Pujara scored a well-paced century (110) against Rajasthan in the preceding clash followed by this 108 versus Manipur.
Third-most First-Class centuries among Indian batters
Pujara owns 63 centuries in First-Class cricket. As per ESPNcricinfo, he owns the third-most centuries in red-ball cricket among Indian cricketers. Only Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar (both 81) and Rahul Dravid (68) are ahead of him in this regard.
Second-highest run-getter of the 2024 Ranji Trophy campaign
Pujara has amassed 781 runs from 11 innings at an average of 78.1. He scored those runs courtesy of three centuries and two fifties. As per ESPNcricinfo, he is the second-highest run-getter in the 2024 Ranji Trophy. He is only behind Andhra's Ricky Bhui, who owns 861 runs. Pujara surpassed Tamil Nadu's Narayan Jagadeesan and Kerala's Sachin Baby.
A look at his sensational FC numbers
Playing his 264th First-Class match, Pujara has compiled 20, 350 runs at an average above 51. Apart from 63 centuries, he has also smoked 79 fifties in this format. 7,195 runs have come for India from 103 Tests at 43.60. He has clobbered 19 centuries and 35 fifties in Indian whites. He last featured for India against Australia in 2023 in the WTC final.
