5 times Cheteshwar Pujara smashed a star bowler for six
As far as Indian cricket is concerned, Cheteshwar Pujara is a legend. The veteran, who recently played his 100th Test, has been central to the team's success over the years. In an era of flamboyant T20 batters, he is a classic, old-school Test match player whose concentration and patience is unmatched.
Over the years, Pujara has scored many hundreds, played many match-winning innings and shown a lot of resilience. However, one thing that he hasn't quite nailed is the art of hitting sixes. Pujara hitting a six is an extremely rare occurrence. Yet, at different points in his career, the Saurashtra batter has taken some extremely good bowlers to the cleaners.
Here, we look at five instances where Cheteshwar Pujara hit a six off a renowned bowler.
5 times Cheteshwar Pujara smashed a star bowler for a six
# vs Nathan Lyon
In the ongoing Test match between India and Australia in Indore, Cheteshwar Pujara smashed a six off the bowling of off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who took eight wickets in that innings. Pujara stepped out of his crease, got near the pitch of the ball and smashed it over mid-wicket. The six brought a smile on the face of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma.
@subhu__RO45 Happiest person after Pujara's Six :- https://t.co/NPioAjbhs8
#2 vs Mitchell Starc
In the first Test of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide, Cheteshwar Pujara played a sensational innings, scoring 123 runs to set up a memorable win for India. During the innings, he managed to smash Mitchell Starc for a six off a delivery that was wide and short. The ball was asking for punishment and Pujara simply lashed it away through backward point.
#3 vs Brett Lee
In an IPL game between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2012 edition, Pujara smashed a six off the bowling of Australian legend Brett Lee. Pujara played an upper cut and at ball sailed over the wicket-keeper, Manvinder Bisla's head.
#4 vs Adil Rashid
In the second Test match of a four-match series against England in 2016, Pujara hit a six off spinner Adil Rashid to reach his century. The delivery was short and loose and Pujara gave it the treatment that it was asking for. It was his second six of the innings, which is a rare occurrence.
#5 vs Josh Hazlewood
In the Adelaide Test of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Pujara pulled a Josh Hazlewood delivery without any timing but the ball still sailed over the ropes for a maximum. Pujara moved across and smashed the ball but couldn't get on top of the bounce.