Happy Birthday Cheteshwar Pujara: Top Records & Knocks By 'New Wall' Of Team India

Team India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara turned 33 on Monday. Pujara, the hero of Indian victory in two consecutive Test series against Australia, is getting wishes from all over the world. Born on 25 January 1988, in Gujarat's Rajkot, Pujara has played 81 Test matches for India so far. (Photo Courtesy: AFP)

Cheteshwar Pujara is the only active Test cricketer in the world who has played more than 500 balls in an innings. He is also the highest run-scorer after Rahul Dravid, batting at number three. Pujara has scored 5,594 runs at an average of 48.64 while batting at number three. (Photo Courtesy: AFP)

Cheteshwar Pujara took 134 innings to make 6000 Test runs. His average was close to 48. He has become the sixth fastest batsman among Indian batsmen after Sunil Gavaskar (117), Virat Kohli (119), Sachin Tendulkar (120), Virender Sehwag (123) and Rahul Dravid (123) to make 6000 runs in Test cricket. (Photo Courtesy: AFP)

In Test cricket, as much as it is necessary to pile on runs, it is highly important for batsmen to stay on the crease and play more and more balls. Pujara is among India's top-10 batsmen in this matter. The Indian Test specialist has played 13,572 balls so far in his Test career. (Photo Courtesy: AFP)

Team India captain Virat Kohli has played more six Test matches than Pujara, but despite this, Pujara has played 832 balls more than him. Not only this, Pujara has also faced more deliveries than Virender Sehwag (10,346 balls in 103 Tests) and Dilip Vengsarkar (11,450 balls in 116 Tests), who have played more than 100 Test matches.

It has happened only 40 times in history of Test cricket when a batsman has played 500 or more balls in an innings. From the Indian team, only Cheteshwar Pujara has been able to do so. He scored 202 runs in 2017 in Ranchi Test against Australia, facing 525 balls. Pujara is currently the only active Test cricketer in the world who has played more than 500 balls in an innings.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who was the rock for the Indian batting unit all through the recently concluded Test series between India and Australia, retains number three spot in the ICC Men's Test batting rankings.

In modern cricket, it is considered very challenging for Indian batsmen to perform well in SENA countries i.e. South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. Pujara has met this challenge and is ranked seventh in the list of Indian batsmen who have scored the most runs in these countries. Pujara has scored 2,064 runs in 31 matches in the SENA Countries.

Among India's active cricketers, only Virat Kohli (2,889 runs in 32 matches) is ahead of Pujara in the list of Indian batsmen who have scored the most runs in SENA countries. Pujara has scored more than star players like Ajinkya Rahane, Gundappa Vishwanath, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Azharuddin and MS Dhoni in SENA countries!

A true cricket fan can never forget the historic victory of the Indian team in the Test series on the tour of Australia in 2018-19. The hero of that series was Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored remarkably well in all the matches. Pujara had scored 521 runs in 4 matches, with 3 centuries. Cheteshwar Pujara also emerged as the star performer in Ind vs Aus 2020-21 Test series, but this time he not only scored runs but also played the most balls in the series.