3 records that Cheteshwar Pujara can break in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy

In one of their major assignments of 2023, Team India are set to host Australia for a four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series this month. The opening Test is scheduled to be played at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 9.

Much will be dependent on the shoulders of Cheteshwar Pujara, who is expected to glue the Indian innings together throughout the series.

Fortunately for the hosts, the Gujarat lad has been in top-notch form off late. After getting dropped from the Sri Lankan series earlier in 2022, Pujara forced the selectors to include him in the team on the back of his superlative County Championship performances for Sussex.

A great practice session to kickstart the tour! https://t.co/pTKaVf6qdS

For Sussex, he amassed 1094 runs at an astronomical average of over 109 across just 13 innings. In the recent two-game Test series against Bangladesh, Pujara was the best batter for India, scoring 222 runs in two games. He was also adjudged as the Player of the Series for his efforts.

Pujara would certainly look to stamp his authority in the highly anticipated series against Australia and spearhead the Indian batting unit with aplomb.

The upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia will also offer Cheteshwar Pujara a chance to break multiple individual records as well. Let's take a look at three of those.

#1 Pujara can become the batter with most runs against a particular bowler in Tests (since 2000)

Australia v India - 1st Test: Day 5 [Pic Credit: Getty Images]

The battle between Cheteshwar Pujara and Nathan Lyon has been a fascinating one for the spectators.

The two have gone head-to-head in 28 Test innings, where Pujara has hammered 521 runs (his most against any bowler) at an average of 52.1, while the off-spinner has come on top on ten occasions as well. No bowler has dismissed Pujara more times than Lyon.

Cheteshwar Pujara has scored 521 runs against Nathan Lyon.

It's second most by a batter against a bowler in Tests since 2000. 🔥

#CheteshwarPujara | #BGT | #INDvAUS | #Cricket https://t.co/wSJfl5zuLq

However, it's interesting to note that if Pujara manages to score at least 11 more runs against Lyon in the upcoming matches, which he surely will, the right-hander will become the batter with the most runs against a particular bowler in Tests (since 2000).

The current record is held by Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 531 runs off Saeed Ajmal's bowling at an average of 132.8 during his career.

#2 Pujara can become India's seventh-highest run-getter in Test match history

Another personal milestone Pujara can achieve in the upcoming series is of becoming India's seventh-highest run-getter in Test cricket history.

With a total of 7,014 runs at an average of 44.4 across 98 matches, he comfortably sits in eighth position on the list of India's highest run-getters in Tests.

Cheteshwar Pujara wants to win the WTC title in the future 🤞🇮🇳

#CheteshwarPujara #India #TeamIndia #CricketTwitter https://t.co/hcIrxsn6wD

If Pujara scores at least 199 runs in the Test series against Australia, he will eclipse Sourav Ganguly's record of 7,212 Test runs.

#3 Pujara can become only the fourth Indian to amass 2000 Test runs against Australia

Over the years, Pujara has been a cornerstone of India's success against the Aussies and has come up with multiple clutch knocks both home and away.

In fact, Australia have been his favorite hunting team, having amassed a total of 1893 runs at an average of 54.08 in 20 matches (his most against any Test team).

Pujara is just 107 runs shy of reaching 2000 runs against the Aussies and will become only the fourth Indian batter after Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid to achieve the landmark.

If Pujara manages to muster more than 273 runs in the upcoming four-game Test series, he will surpass Dravid to become the third-highest run-getter for India in Test matches against Australia.

India's current head coach, Dravid scored 2,166 runs at an average of 38.67 against Australia.