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Thanks for the memories, Cheteshwar Pujara: 15 memorable moments from his career in pics as Indian stalwart retires

Cheteshwar Pujara played 103 Test matches for India, and heaped on over 20,000 First Class runs. Dozens upon dozens of memories, here are some of the finest.

Published on: Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM IST

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1/15

Cheteshwar Pujara has called time on his career, 20 years on from his First Class debut. This is a picture of him from his final international match – but before it followed a long career full of moments that came to define him as the spine of India's best and most successful Test team. Here are some of the most remarkable moments for one of India's most remarkable cricketers. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Cheteshwar Pujara has called time on his career, 20 years on from his First Class debut. This is a picture of him from his final international match – but before it followed a long career full of moments that came to define him as the spine of India's best and most successful Test team. Here are some of the most remarkable moments for one of India's most remarkable cricketers. (AFP)

2/15

Marks Test debut with 72 vs Australia in successful chaseCheteshwar Pujara made a name for himself on the domestic stage and earned his debut as a 22-year-old when Australia came visiting in 2010. After a quiet outing in the first innings, he saw himself promoted to 3 in the second, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, while chasing 207. He made it count, scoring a fluent 72, looking very capable at the toughest stage. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Marks Test debut with 72 vs Australia in successful chaseCheteshwar Pujara made a name for himself on the domestic stage and earned his debut as a 22-year-old when Australia came visiting in 2010. After a quiet outing in the first innings, he saw himself promoted to 3 in the second, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, while chasing 207. He made it count, scoring a fluent 72, looking very capable at the toughest stage. (AFP)

3/15

Maiden Test century, vs New Zealand in Hyderabad 2012Brought in to fill the role of Rahul Dravid, most would have cowered at the prospect. Not the young Pujara, who showed all his reliability and mental clarity as he scored his first century while playing against the Kiwis in Hyderabad, sharing the first of many century partnerships with Virat Kohli. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Maiden Test century, vs New Zealand in Hyderabad 2012Brought in to fill the role of Rahul Dravid, most would have cowered at the prospect. Not the young Pujara, who showed all his reliability and mental clarity as he scored his first century while playing against the Kiwis in Hyderabad, sharing the first of many century partnerships with Virat Kohli. (AFP)

4/15

Double-century vs England in 2012When he really came into his own, however, was when England came visiting later that year. In the first Test match, a remarkable 206* against a quality bowling unit, and the sort of stoic marathon innings that would come to define his career. Remained not-out as well. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Double-century vs England in 2012When he really came into his own, however, was when England came visiting later that year. In the first Test match, a remarkable 206* against a quality bowling unit, and the sort of stoic marathon innings that would come to define his career. Remained not-out as well. (AFP)

5/15

First overseas century, Johannesburg 2013Pujara didn’t have the best record in South Africa, but it still remains the country where he scored his first overseas century. And in what a Test it came: every run from Pujara’s bat was valuable alongside Kohli, as the Proteas nearly hauled down a target of 458. A score of 153 that looks better and better in retrospect. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

First overseas century, Johannesburg 2013Pujara didn’t have the best record in South Africa, but it still remains the country where he scored his first overseas century. And in what a Test it came: every run from Pujara’s bat was valuable alongside Kohli, as the Proteas nearly hauled down a target of 458. A score of 153 that looks better and better in retrospect. (AFP)

6/15

Masterclass vs Aussie spinners in Bengaluru, 2017On a pitch that was proving almost impossible to bat on towards the end of the match, Pujara stuck through and overturned a big first innings deficit almost single-handedly with a tremendous 92. Following an opening match loss, this was an innings of utmost quality under incredible pressure, and some of the best batting against spin in recent memory. Helped India come back into the series. (Reuters)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Masterclass vs Aussie spinners in Bengaluru, 2017On a pitch that was proving almost impossible to bat on towards the end of the match, Pujara stuck through and overturned a big first innings deficit almost single-handedly with a tremendous 92. Following an opening match loss, this was an innings of utmost quality under incredible pressure, and some of the best batting against spin in recent memory. Helped India come back into the series. (Reuters)

7/15

First Indian player to face 500+ deliveries in a Test innings, vs AUS Ranchi 2017And in the very next match, he created history, becoming the first Indian player to face 500 deliveries in a single innings. Dravid and Laxman couldn’t do it in their Kolkata heroics, Gavaskar couldn’t through a long career of batting for days. Purely in terms of outstanding feats of concentration and stamina, especially in the Indian heat, an innings that belongs on his mantlepiece. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

First Indian player to face 500+ deliveries in a Test innings, vs AUS Ranchi 2017And in the very next match, he created history, becoming the first Indian player to face 500 deliveries in a single innings. Dravid and Laxman couldn’t do it in their Kolkata heroics, Gavaskar couldn’t through a long career of batting for days. Purely in terms of outstanding feats of concentration and stamina, especially in the Indian heat, an innings that belongs on his mantlepiece. (AFP)

8/15

Third Indian player to bat on all 5 days of a Test, vs SL in Kolkata 2017Yes, this was a match that was affected by rain which helped him achieve this feat, but it is still remarkable that Pujara managed to become only the third Indian batter to face up on all five days of a single Test match. His first innings 52 lasted the first three days, and proved to be key in tricky overcast conditions on each of them.  (AP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Third Indian player to bat on all 5 days of a Test, vs SL in Kolkata 2017Yes, this was a match that was affected by rain which helped him achieve this feat, but it is still remarkable that Pujara managed to become only the third Indian batter to face up on all five days of a single Test match. His first innings 52 lasted the first three days, and proved to be key in tricky overcast conditions on each of them. (AP)

9/15

Most First Class runs in a season by an Indian batters, 2016/172017 was the year of Pujara, the man at peak strength and performing at the highest level, which coincided with Kohli’s India at their best. Including domestic matches, Pujara hammered more than 2000 runs across the 2016-17 season, and 1316 runs in 13 home matches that season. At the time, only Ricky Ponting had ever scored more in a single home Test season. (BCCI)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Most First Class runs in a season by an Indian batters, 2016/172017 was the year of Pujara, the man at peak strength and performing at the highest level, which coincided with Kohli’s India at their best. Including domestic matches, Pujara hammered more than 2000 runs across the 2016-17 season, and 1316 runs in 13 home matches that season. At the time, only Ricky Ponting had ever scored more in a single home Test season. (BCCI)

10/15

Heroic one-man-show to start off famous 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scores 123Pujara always tended to save his best for Australia, and this came to a head with his series Down Under in 2018/19. It started off with him scoring a first-day century in the series at the Adelaide Oval, in a knock that was positively fluent by his standards, and even included two sixes. India could only score 250 in that first innings, meaning Pujara scored half his team’s runs, and all of them mattered over the course of this series. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Heroic one-man-show to start off famous 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scores 123Pujara always tended to save his best for Australia, and this came to a head with his series Down Under in 2018/19. It started off with him scoring a first-day century in the series at the Adelaide Oval, in a knock that was positively fluent by his standards, and even included two sixes. India could only score 250 in that first innings, meaning Pujara scored half his team’s runs, and all of them mattered over the course of this series. (AFP)

11/15

Series-sealing 193 at the SCG in 2019, earns player of the seriesPujara would end the series with 521 runs, the most by any player that series, but it was his dogged team-first batting that earned him the player of the series award. With a 2-1 series lead heading into the final Test match, all India needed was to avoid the loss, and batting out nearly 10 hours and 373 deliveries is certainly the way to achieve that. This was Pujara’s series, falling just short of double century to crown it. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Series-sealing 193 at the SCG in 2019, earns player of the seriesPujara would end the series with 521 runs, the most by any player that series, but it was his dogged team-first batting that earned him the player of the series award. With a 2-1 series lead heading into the final Test match, all India needed was to avoid the loss, and batting out nearly 10 hours and 373 deliveries is certainly the way to achieve that. This was Pujara’s series, falling just short of double century to crown it. (AFP)

12/15

Pujara reaches his 50th First Class century, vs Karnataka in 2019/20 Ranji TrophyThe list of Indian batters to reach 50 First Class centuries is a spectacular one: Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Dravid, Vengsarkar, Laxman. Pujara joined this club with a century in the Ranji Trophy, and has gone on to add 16 more before calling it quits. At the time of his retirement, amongst Indians only Tendulkar, Gavaskar, and Dravid can claim to have more First Class centuries than his 66. (IANS)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Pujara reaches his 50th First Class century, vs Karnataka in 2019/20 Ranji TrophyThe list of Indian batters to reach 50 First Class centuries is a spectacular one: Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Dravid, Vengsarkar, Laxman. Pujara joined this club with a century in the Ranji Trophy, and has gone on to add 16 more before calling it quits. At the time of his retirement, amongst Indians only Tendulkar, Gavaskar, and Dravid can claim to have more First Class centuries than his 66. (IANS)

13/15

Warrior-like Gabba heroics to win 2020/21 BGTBrave, gritty, stoic: whatever words you might want to use to describe Pujara probably won’t do justice to the feat he pulled off at the Gabba in that famous Test. He hadn’t been free of criticism in a series where runs had proved to be tough to come by, but when it came down to just playing for time and allowing the talent around him to do that talking, nobody was quite like Pujara. 211 deliveries faced in that chase of 328, and 11 of them hit Pujara somewhere on the body — but there was not one drop of quit in India’s warrior for all seasons. Without Pujara, Fortress Gabba would still be standing. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Warrior-like Gabba heroics to win 2020/21 BGTBrave, gritty, stoic: whatever words you might want to use to describe Pujara probably won’t do justice to the feat he pulled off at the Gabba in that famous Test. He hadn’t been free of criticism in a series where runs had proved to be tough to come by, but when it came down to just playing for time and allowing the talent around him to do that talking, nobody was quite like Pujara. 211 deliveries faced in that chase of 328, and 11 of them hit Pujara somewhere on the body — but there was not one drop of quit in India’s warrior for all seasons. Without Pujara, Fortress Gabba would still be standing. (AFP)

14/15

19th and final Test century, ends 4-year drought vs Bangladesh in 2022Although he kept up his form in domestic cricket, international runs were harder to come by after Pujara entered his 30s. After a 46-month spell with no international centuries, one finally came his way, and this wasn’t typical Pujara: he scored at a strike-rate of nearly 80 as he brought about his 19th and what would prove to be his last Test century. (AFP)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

19th and final Test century, ends 4-year drought vs Bangladesh in 2022Although he kept up his form in domestic cricket, international runs were harder to come by after Pujara entered his 30s. After a 46-month spell with no international centuries, one finally came his way, and this wasn’t typical Pujara: he scored at a strike-rate of nearly 80 as he brought about his 19th and what would prove to be his last Test century. (AFP)

15/15

Joins 100-Test club, and scores winning runs to boot – vs AUS, Delhi 2023It started with Australia, and Pujara toned up with Australia. This time, it would be when the Aussies visited in 2023, as Pujara was felicitated by Sunil Gavaskar for his 100th Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla. A lion-hearted India stalwart for over a decade, and a milestone nailed down. It was only right that he hit the winning runs in Delhi, earning the right to celebrate accomplishing a feat that most childhood cricketers couldn’t even dream about. Kudos, Puji.  (BCCI)

Published on Aug 24, 2025 6:58 PM

Joins 100-Test club, and scores winning runs to boot – vs AUS, Delhi 2023It started with Australia, and Pujara toned up with Australia. This time, it would be when the Aussies visited in 2023, as Pujara was felicitated by Sunil Gavaskar for his 100th Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla. A lion-hearted India stalwart for over a decade, and a milestone nailed down. It was only right that he hit the winning runs in Delhi, earning the right to celebrate accomplishing a feat that most childhood cricketers couldn’t even dream about. Kudos, Puji. (BCCI)

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