Cheteshwar Pujara played a monumental knock. There’s no two ways about it. His incredible 202, crafted off 525 pain-staking deliveries and spanning 668 minutes, was an exercise in concentration and resilience.
The records tumbled and how. Here are the big ones:
Record-breaker
- Pujara faced 525 balls for his 202, his longest Test innings. That is the most number of balls faced by an Indian batsman in Tests, overtaking Rahul Dravid’s 270 off 495 balls. He also faced the most number of deliveries by an batsman in India overtaking Pakistan’s Younis Khan’s 504-ball vigil.
- In his knock of 202, Cheteshwar Pujara became the first batsman to score 2000 runs in a first-class season in India.
- His tally of 2007 runs this season makes Pujara the third Indian batsman to score 2000+ runs in a first-class season. Mohinder Amarnath with 2234 runs and Sunil Gavaskar with 2121 runs are the only two batsmen ahead of him.
- Pujara is tied with Vijay Merchant for scoring the most first-class double tons by an Indian player: 11. Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid are tied in second place with 10 with Polly Umrigar in third place with 9.
- This 202 is Pujara’s third double century in Test cricket. He previously hit 204 against Australia in 2013 and an unbeaten 206 against England in 2012.
- Pujara also became the first Indian batsman since VVS Laxman in 2001 to face more than 400+ balls in Tests in India.
- He also has two double-centuries against Australia and joins VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar for most double centuries by an Indian batsman against Australia. On the overall list, only Brian Lara (3) and Wally Hammond (4) are ahead of him.
- Pujara also faced 215 balls against Steve O’Keefe, the second-most off one bowler in a Test innings after Mahela Jayawardene faced 221 balls from Nicky Boje.