‘Akhirkaar 47 mahine baad..’ – Fans breath sigh of relief as Cheteshwar Pujara ends his century drought in international cricket
Cheteshwar Pujara (Image Credit: Twitter)
The last time India’s Cheteshwar Pujara hit a Test century was during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19. In the last game of the series, he continued on with his merry form in the series and scored 193 runs. At that point, Virat Kohli was the captain of India across formats. Since then, a lot has changed in Indian cricket.
Pujara became the vice-captain after Kohli decided to pull out of the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 ahead of the birth of his daughter. The former has once again become the vice-captain for the ongoing two-match Test series against Bangladesh. However, in the midst of all this, he has waited for a triple-figure mark more than Kohli. The former India skipper waited for almost three years to hit a hundred across formats.
On the other hand, Pujara, who only plays Test cricket has waited for almost four years to hit a hundred in international cricket. Notably, he did some hundred and double tons in County Cricket early this year. Besides, after a wait for almost four years, Pujara has finally scored his Test hundred. He got to the triple-figure mark with a hit across wide mid-on.
Cheteshwar Pujara started slowly but race his race to his Test ton
Talking about his innings, he came out to bat after stand-in skipper KL Rahul got out after scoring 23 runs. At this stage, India had amassed 70 runs. At the start of his innings, the vice-captain for the current series started with the way he is famous. On the other end, Shubman Gill kept the scoreboard. After the latter’s wicket, Pujara decided to race to his hundred which was a clear indication that India is looking to declare the innings and put the home side in at the end of the day.
The right-hander was successful on his quest and eventually reached his hundred, having missed out in the first innings by 10 runs.
This is how Twitter reacted
https://twitter.com/Anubhavshahi48/status/1603691178418966529?s=20&t=0JRH7FN1wwI11jzOQ3igzw
https://twitter.com/Cricketracker/status/1603690036058214400?s=20&t=WUhmIjbHn5Tfx1Mn8jfb7w
The century celebration with Virat Kohli.
It's been a hard 47 months for Cheteshwar Pujara, but he played it excellently in this Test. pic.twitter.com/6gp30lcn6S
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 16, 2022
The wait is over, a deserving hundred for the rock of Team India, Cheteshwar Pujara. pic.twitter.com/SEpLTBuTaq
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/ESPNcricinfo/status/1603688430944522240?s=20&t=0JRH7FN1wwI11jzOQ3igzw
https://twitter.com/FarziCricketer/status/1603689956752232448?s=20&t=0JRH7FN1wwI11jzOQ3igzw
1443 days. #Cheteshwar #pujara had to wait for his next hundred.
— Devendra Pandey (@pdevendra) December 16, 2022
The return of Dependable Cheteshwar Pujara #pujara pic.twitter.com/PGMii5CkuY
— Sudhanshu Ranjan Singh (@memegineers_) December 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/CricBook518/status/1603690721147781120?s=20&t=0JRH7FN1wwI11jzOQ3igzw
Cheteshwar Pujara deserves all the praise. Man went to County cricket after poor form. Got lots of runs there, came back and now playing his best game again. Today showed he can increase his run rate too if required.
Well done sir.— Mask Pehn lo yaar (@mittisepehchhan) December 16, 2022
