When India take on Sri Lanka in the second Test of the three-match series at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo, Cheteshwar Pujara will complete a half-century of a different kind.
The Indian middle-order stalwart will be playing the 50th Test of a noteworthy career so far.
We take a look at the three interesting statistics that have stood out in the Saurashtra batsman’s career.
In the third Test against Australia in Ranchi, Steve Smith’s men had put up a giant total of 451 against the Indians in their first innings.
Pujara would then go on to play a marathon innings, facing 525 deliveries, en-route to scoring a double ton.
He would eventually be dismissed by Nathan Lyon for 202 but not before he had broken the Indian record for the most deliveries faced in a Test innings.
The previous record was held by Rahul Dravid – 495 – against Pakistan in Rawalpindi during 2004. He ended up scoring 270.
No wonder Pujara has been bestowed the title of the ‘Wall’ by the Indian fans, a term previously reserved for Dravid.
525 balls.
— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) March 19, 2017
Dayum.
One man almost batted an entire ODI match.
Madness by Cheteshwar Pujara.
During the course of his magnificent 204 against the Aussies in the second Test at Hyderabad, the Saurashtra batsman became the second-fastest Indian to reach the 1,000 run mark. The record belongs to former Mumbai batsman Vinod Kambli, who got there in just 14 innings.
This makes the right-hander the 18th fastest of all time in Test cricket to reach that milestone. In terms of the number of Tests, Pujara is the fastest Indian along with the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to achieve the milestone.
India went on to win the match by a massive innings and 135 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
He took just 11 Tests to reach 1,000 runs - the joint fastest by number of Tests for an Indian batsman! Happy Birthday @cheteshwar1! pic.twitter.com/1GOs8Ok6b1
— ICC (@ICC) January 25, 2017
When Pujara played the longest Test innings by an Indian during his 202 against Australia, he also joined fellow countryman Vijay Merchant with the most number of double tons in first-class cricket.
The batsman had taken his tally to 11 when he played the epic innings, overtaking the iconic Gavaskar, Dravid and Vijay Hazare who had 10 double tons each to their name.
Stand and applaud! It's a double for @cheteshwar1 200 in 521 balls.... what a performance.
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) March 19, 2017
Pujara has three double tons in Test cricket, five in the Ranji trophy for Saurashtra, two for India-A and one in the Duleep Trophy.
