Cheteshwar Pujara is known to be a Test cricket specialist. However, his recent County stint has been disappointing the cricket fans.
The 30-year-old Indian batsman recently garnered a huge response on social media after a video went viral where he was seen losing his wicket to Dale Steyn on a duck during the One-Day Cup. Two days later, both the cricketers faced off in a County match and the same thing happened yet again.
Here are the videos:
After these bizarre performances, once again Pujara has grabbed the limelight by a setting a weird batting record in English County cricket.
While batting against Surrey, Pujara spent almost 70 to 73 minutes to get off the mark. Facing the bowlers like Rikki Clarke, Morne Morkel, and Jade Dernbach, he played 41 consecutive dot balls to score the first run.
Earlier this year, he Pujara took 54 balls in about 79 minutes to get off the mark against South Africa in Johannesburg Test. Thus, he became the first player in the first-class history to bat more than 70 minutes without scoring at the start of an innings on two different occasions.
Here’s the list of players who have taken the longest time to get off the mark -
In a first-class innings
| Player | Team | Opposition | Minutes |
| Sunil Joshi | Baroda | Bengal | 120 |
| Rajesh Chauhan | India | Sri Lanka | 84 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | Haryana | Vidarbha | 79 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | India | South Africa | 79 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | Yorkshire | Surrey | 70-73 |
In County Innings
| Player | Team | Opposition | Minutes | Year |
| Jack Simmons | Lancashire | Yorkshire | 74 | 1969 |
| Peter Stimpson | Worcestershire | Leicestershire | 73 | 1971 |
| Frank Vigar | Essex | Hampshire | 72 | 1946 |
| Mike Watkinson | Lancashire | Nottinghamshire | 71 | 1983 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | Yorkshire | Surrey | 70-73 | 2018 |
| R Barlow | Lancashire | Nottinghamshire | 70 | 1882 |
| W Humphreys | Sussex | Kent | 70 | 1892 |
Pujara came in to bat at No. 3 after Yorkshire opener Alex Lees went for a duck. He went on to face 111 balls and managed to score just 23 runs before he lost his wicket.