Cheteshwar Pujara on Wednesday hosted a Q&A session with the fans where he candidly answered many questions about his international career and personal choices. The 34-year-old, known for his textbook batting technique and resilience in the longest format, endured body blows in Brisbane as the Australians decided to pepper him with short deliveries. He named the Gabba Test win as his favourite overseas Test victory but his pick for unforgettable innings of his career dates back to 2017. Watch: Rashid Khan, Mohammad Rizwan exchange hugs as Afghanistan, Pakistan players greet each other ahead of Asia Cup
The Test specialist said his 92 against Australia in Bangalore remains his favourite innings so far. "Which cricketing innings is your favourite till the date which you could never forget in your life?" asked a fan. Pujara responded – "92 against Australia at Bangalore in 2nd Innings in 2017"
Pujara went for 92 from 221 balls with Josh Hazlewood taking his wicket. He fell eight runs short of his 11th Test century despite producing a composed innings, which pretty much took the game away from the visitors.
{{/usCountry}}Pujara went for 92 from 221 balls with Josh Hazlewood taking his wicket. He fell eight runs short of his 11th Test century despite producing a composed innings, which pretty much took the game away from the visitors.
{{/usCountry}}Pujara came in to bat one-down after the fall of Abhinav Mukund’s wicket and put up crucial partnerships with KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and a 118-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane. He took India to 274, and an eventual bowling brilliance from Ravichandran Ashwin gave India a much-needed 75-run victory.
Pujara hit his third hundred of the Royal London One-Day Cup earlier this week. He smashed 132 off 90 balls to help Sussex reach 400 for four in 50 overs against Middlesex. His knock was laced with 20 fours and couple of sixes.
With this century, the right-handed batter has an overall List A record (which also includes limited overs games other than international matches as well, plus ODIs) is 5,059 runs in 111 games across 109 innings at an average of 57.48. His best score in the format is 174, with 14 centuries and 31 half-centuries under his belt.
England's Graham Gooch (22,211) and Graeme Hick (22,059), India's Sachin Tendulkar (21,999), Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakara (19,456) and West Indies great Vivian Richards (16,995) are the leading run-scorers in List A cricket.
Earlier, Pujara had churned out a 79-ball 107 against Warwickshire. He then smashed his career-best List A score of 174 in the match against Surrey.
In the One-Day Cup so far, the Indian has notched up 614 runs in eight innings at an average of 102.33. Three centuries and two half-centuries have come off his willow. He had also made a comeback to the Indian team for the rescheduled fifth Test against England last month.