Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara ended his 52-innings century drought in First-Class cricket with a sensational and record-breaking 201 for Sussex on Sunday in the ongoing County Championship against Derbyshire. And with the big knock that helped his team eke out a draw, Pujara scripted a massive Indian record and broke a staggering Asian record as well.
Pujara became only the second Indian after Mohammad Azharuddin to score a double century in the County Championship. The former India skipper, who had achieved the feat twice, had scored a ravishing 212 against Leicestershire in 1991 and 205 against Durham in 1994 and both his knocks were for Derbyshire. Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi had four such scores to his name, but came while he was cricketer for the English team.
This was Pujara's first century in First-Class cricket after 52 innings. His last came against Karnataka in January 2020 when he had scored 248. In between the two big scores, Pujara managed 1518 runs at 30.36 with 14 fifties.
This was also Pujara's 14th double century in the format, which took him past Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara for the most First-Class double tons by an Asian. Overall, eight other batters have scored more double centuries in the red-ball game than Pujara, but none remain active. He also surpassed Sangakkara for the most souble centuries in First Class cricket in the 21st century.
{{/usCountry}}This was also Pujara's 14th double century in the format, which took him past Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara for the most First-Class double tons by an Asian. Overall, eight other batters have scored more double centuries in the red-ball game than Pujara, but none remain active. He also surpassed Sangakkara for the most souble centuries in First Class cricket in the 21st century.
{{/usCountry}}And last but not the least, the unbeaten 201 is now the highest score by a batter on first-class debut for Sussex, breaking the previous record held by Joe Gatting against Cambridge UCCE in 2009. He had scored 152 in his Sussex debut.
"Enjoyed my debut game for @sussexccc. Glad that I could contribute to the team's cause. Looking forward to the next game," Pujara said on the KOO app after the big knock.