Cheteshwar Pujara rose to the occasion with a maiden century in Australia, pulling India out of a deep hole to a respectable 250/9 on day one of the first Test in Adelaide on Thursday.
Pujara showed the same grit and gumption that is typical of him en route a 246-ball 123 that kept India in the game after being reduced to 127/6 in the 50th over. It took a brilliant direct from Pat Cummins to remove him on what happened to be the final ball of an absorbing day one of the four-Test series.
Skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat in ideal conditions but the Indian top-order once again failed to apply themselves against the potent pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins. Anything close to 250 looked a mountain to climb with India reeling at 56/4 at lunch. But Pujara stood tall amid the ruins to save India from embarrassment on way to his 16th Test ton. His fighting effort comprised seven fours and two sixes.
The 30-year-old put on two crucial partnerships with the lower-order batsmen to ensure India give their bowlers something to bowl at. Post tea, Pujara added 62 runs with R Ashwin (25) for the seventh wicket. The all-rounder played watchfully, unlike the Indian top-order, and played a great role in this minor recovery.
This is how Pujara constructed his innings:
Cheteshwar Pujara in Adelaide on day one | 123 runs in 246 balls, 380 mins |
---|---|
Strike rate | 50.00 |
Dots | 182 balls |
Singles | 30 |
Doubles | 22 |
Threes | 3 |
Fours | 7 |
Sixes | 2 |
Pujara has played just 12% false shots today, the fewest of any Indian batsman. Chanceless stuff from the No.3. #AUSvIND
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) December 6, 2018
He displayed incredible patience on a day when his colleagues failed to exactly that as this chart shows.
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The century was another instance of Pujara willing to spend time in the middle, facing as many deliveries as possible.
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Pujara’s innings created a fair few other milestones, including the fact that this is the most runs scored by an Indian on the opening day of a Test series in Australia.
Hs scores by visiting batsmen on first day of a Test series in Australia:
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) December 6, 2018
132, Gary Sobers,Brisbane, 1960
126, Maurice Leyland, Brisbane, 1936
123, Cheteshwar Pujara, Adelaide, 2018#AUSvIND
Indian players hitting 100 on the opening day of a tour outside Asia:
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) December 6, 2018
V Manjrekar 133 Leeds 1952
S Tendulkar 155 Bloemfontein 2001
V Sehwag 105 B'tein 2001
V Kohli 119 Joburg 2013
M Vijay 122 Trent Bridge 2014
V Kohli 143 North Sound 2016
C PUJARA 100 Adelaide 2018 *#AUSvIND
Cheteshwar Pujara today reached his 14000 first-class runs and 5000 Test runs!#AusvInd#AusvsInd
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 6, 2018
Cheteshwar Pujara has just passed 14,000 runs in FC cricket. Since he made his debut in December 2005, no Indian has scored more FC runs. #AUSvIND
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) December 6, 2018
This, perhaps, is the standout stat of the day – a proper throwback to another Indian No 3 scoring a memorable Adelaide Test century.
Do you know?
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 6, 2018
Dravid and Pujara have reached their milestones of 3000 runs, 4000 runs and 5000 runs in Tests in SAME number of innings.
3000 runs in 67 innings
4000 runs in 84 innings
5000 runs in 108 innings
Heights of coincidence! #AusvInd
As good as the innings was, his dismissal, perhaps the only way he was getting out, added to the list of run-outs he has been involved in 2018.
Most run-outs in Tests in a calendar year:
— ESPNcricinfo stats (@ESPNcric_stats) December 6, 2018
Bill Lawry 4 in 1964
Cheteshwar Pujara 4 in 2018#AusvInd
Pujara’s run-out was the second instance of Australia’s fielding making a big difference.
According to CricViz Fielding Impact—which considers the difficulty of the event & the batsman dismissed—Khawaja's catch to dismiss Kohli was worth +33.75 runs and Cummins' run out of Pujara was worth +31.43 runs. That's +65 runs earned with two fielding events alone. #AUSvIND
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) December 6, 2018
Before Pujara’s rescue act, however, there was a familiar top-order collapse.
All four of India's wickets fell to loose shots but Australia bowled very well in helpful conditions. According to @CricViz Expected Wickets we expected 3.39 wickets to fall - the most in the first 27 overs of an innings in Australia since the 2015 day-night Test. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/NzGRkzrHaf
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) December 6, 2018
India have never won an away Test after losing first 4 wickets for less than 50 runs in their first innings. Of 23 such matches, they have lost 17 and drawn 6. #AusvInd
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 6, 2018
The big blow for India on the opening day came in the form of a rare failure for Virat Kohli at Adelaide.
Match | Runs |
---|---|
1st innings, 2011 | 116 off 213 balls (11 fours, 1 six) |
2nd innings, 2011 | 22 off 62 (2 fours) |
1st innings, 2014 | 115 off 184 (12 fours) |
2nd innings, 2014 | 141 off 175 (16 fours, 1 six) |
1st innings, 2018 | 3 off 16 |
Kohli gone for 3 - His first single digit score at Adelaide across all 3 formats.
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 6, 2018
He had hit 4 centuries and a 90* in previous 8 innings, which include his maiden Test century, twin centuries on captaincy debut, World Cup century v Pak and his highest T20I score. #AusvInd
(With agency inputs)