Cheteshwar Pujara roars back to form with a double-century on his Sussex debut

Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara showed stellar form on his return to the County Championship. The right-hander, with a brilliant unbeaten double century, helped his side Sussex salvage a draw against Derbyshire.

This knock was important for Pujara as he was dismissed for just six runs in his team's first innings. The seasoned campaigner redeemed himself by coming up with a match-saving performance on the final day of the contest.

Interestingly, this was Pujara's first hundred in first-class cricket after 27 months. His last century at this level was against Karnataka in Ranji Trophy, in January 2020. This innings also saw the 34-year-old right-hander complete 17,000 runs in first-class cricket.

He faced 387 deliveries and scored 201 runs. He orchestrated a magnificent 351-run partnership with skipper Tom Haines to help their team snatch a draw.

Derbyshire had batted first in the game and registered an imposing 1st innings total of 505.

Sussex, on the other hand, were bundled out for a paltry score of 174. After being asked to follow on, they came up with a much improved performance, thanks to Pujara's class act and Haines' (243) captain's knock.

2⃣0⃣1⃣* on debut. 🙌

@cheteshwar1 🌟 https://t.co/T5enZv40vR

Pujara took to his social media accounts after the match and stated that he enjoyed his debut match for Sussex. He wrote:

"Enjoyed my debut game for @SussexCCC. Glad that I could contribute to the team's cause. Looking forward to the next game!"

Enjoyed my debut game for @SussexCCC. Glad that I could contribute to the team's cause. Looking forward to the next game! https://t.co/YHxrhwBaZw

Cheteshwar Pujara will next be seen in action on Thursday (April 21) when Sussex take on Worcestershire in their second match of the ongoing season.

Pujara, who was dropped from India's Test team following the tour of South Africa, will be aiming to score big runs during his county stint. This will be part of his endeavour to find his way back into the national side.

Cheteshwar Pujara's stats in Test cricket

The 34-year-old is known to counter opposition bowling attacks with his astute footwork and strong defensive technique. He made his Test debut in October 2010 against Australia in Bengaluru.

Pujara has 6,713 runs to his name from 95 Tests, including 18 centuries and 32 fifties. While he was successful in carving a niche for himself in India's batting line-up, he had been under pressure in the months leading up to his axing. This was due to lack of big scores from his bat.

The man once regarded as the successor to Rahul Dravid as the Indian team's 'Wall' was overlooked for India's home Test series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. In India's previous series, against South Africa, Pujara had managed just 124 runs in six innings, at an average of 20.66.

Whether this knock will herald the resurgence of Cheteshwar Pujara or not remains to be seen. But, for now, his fans would be delighted that the big-scoring form has returned for the Saurashtra batsman.