“If only I partied” – Cheteshwar Pujara reacts to Sachin Tendulkar’s special birthday wish
Cheteshwar Pujara reacted hilariously to legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s special birthday wish on social media as he turned 36 on Thursday (January 25). The exchange came as Tendulkar penned down a special birthday post for Pujara on X (formerly Twitter).
For the unversed, the two players played together for India in Tests before the latter retired in November 2013. In his post, Tendulkar credited the 100+ Test veteran for his timeless knocks for India in Test cricket and wrote:
“Happy birthday, @cheteshwar1! If your birthday party lasts as long as you last on the crease, it might just be the longest party in the world.”
Pujara responded:
“If only I partied. Thank you for your wishes paaji!”
Tendulkar smashed a double century when Pujara made his Test debut against Australia in Bengaluru (2010). The latter also scored 4 and 72 respectively in the match, as India won by seven wickets.
The Saurashtra batter soon went on to establish himself as the new wall of the Indian cricket team for over a decade. He has scored 7195 runs in 103 Tests, including 19 tons and 35 half-centuries.
Cheteshwar Pujara played a pivotal role for India during their Test series wins in Australia (2017/18 and 2020/21).
Cheteshwar Pujara is leading run-scorer in Ranji Trophy
Cheteshwar Pujara has continued to grab the limelight despite being sidelined from Tests since the 2023 World Test Championship final vs Australia. That came as he returned with scores of 14 and 27 in his two innings as Australia beat India by 209 runs to lift the trophy.
Interestingly, India captain Rohit Sharma (15 & 43), Shubman Gill (13 & 18) and Virat Kohli (14 & 49) also failed in the same game. However, the trio retained their place in the India squad during their tour of West Indies last year.
Pujara recently slammed an unbeaten 243 against Jharkhand in the ongoing 2023-2024 Ranji Trophy. He is currently the leading run-getter in the tournament, with 444 runs in five innings at an average of 111.
He recently completed a record 20,000 runs in first-class cricket to join Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar on the elite list of Indian batters.
The Sussex captain Pujara finished with 649 runs in 12 innings at an average of 54.08 in the 2023 County Championship Division Two season.