3 times Cheteshwar Pujara shocked the world with his aggressive batting
Often described as the heir to the great Rahul Dravid in the Indian Test Team, Cheteshwar Pujara is known for his patience, resilience and temperament. In an era where cricketers prioritize white-ball cricket and base their skill-set around shorter formats, Cheteshwar Pujara is a rare player who devotes his energy solely to mastering the longest form of the game.
Pujara chose not to register himself for the Tata IPL 2023 Auction and will ply his trade in the County Cricket Circuit of England, playing for Sussex. The veteran last played an IPL match in 2014 and an ODI match for India in 2015.
However, he proved yet again what a star he was for India in the first Test of the India-Bangladesh series. He scored a fighting half-century (90 off 203 balls) to rescue India, after the visitors were reduced to 48/3 in the 20th over of the first innings.
It was, however, his performance in the second innings that broke the internet. With India having a massive lead of 254 runs, the team was in need of quick runs. Pujara delivered yet again as he smashed his fastest hundred in Test cricket. The hundred, which came off just 130 deliveries, was also Pujara's first Test hundred in 1443 days. Pujara's positive intent was the hallmark of his innings as he stroked 13 boundaries in his spectacular display of strokeplay.
On that note, let’s take a look at three instances when Pujara shocked the cricketing world with his aggressive batting.
#1 Smashing 22 runs in a single over for Sussex in County Cricket
4 2 4 2 6 4
TWENTY-TWO off the 47th over from @cheteshwar1. 🔥 https://t.co/jbBOKpgiTI
Sussex were chasing a target of 311 runs in a 50-over fixture against Warwickshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup 2022. Cheteshwar Pujara (107 runs off 79 balls), who had been in brilliant form throughout the summer for Sussex, smashed a delightful hundred to give him team a fighting chance in the match.
However, the highlight of his innings was his onslaught in the 47th over of the innings when he smashed English pacer Liam Norwell for 22 runs. Yet, his efforts did not yield the desired results as Sussex lost the game by a narrow margin of four runs.
#2 Cheteshwar Pujara tearing apart the Chennai Super Kings net bowlers
Puji was on fire 🔥
@cheteshwar1 #csk
https://t.co/CNbPXi786q
Cheteshwar Pujara was picked up by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2021 IPL Auction at his base price of ₹50 lakhs, shortly after his heroics in the 2020-21 edition of the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Just before the season began, CSK released a video in which a transformed Pujara was seen smashing the team's bowlers for huge sixes. Pujara visibly changed his stance to a more T20-appropriate style with a high backlift. While Pujara failed to get even a single game that season, his aggressive approach did break the internet with appreciation and surprise.
#3 Scintillating century for Sussex (132 runs off 90 balls)
In his glorious summer for Sussex in 2022, Cheteshwar Pujara smashed eight hundreds, including three double-tons.
In the match between Sussex and Middlesex in the Royal London One-Day Cup, Pujara smashed a fantastic hundred, propelling his team to a mammoth first-innings score of 400/4 in their 50 overs. His knock comprised 20 boundaries and two sixes as he hammered the Middlesex bowlers into all corners of the ground. His knock, coupled with another hundred from his teammate Tom Alsop, powered his team to a 157-run win over Sussex.
With that, we conclude our list of three instances when Cheteshwar Pujara shocked the world with his aggressive batting. Can you think of any other such instances? Let us know in the comments section below.