Veteran Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara continued his great form in the County Championship 2022, bringing up his fourth century in as many matches for Sussex.
Recently dropped from the Indian Test team, the 34-year-old could not have imagined a better way to make a statement. He has been piling up centuries for fun in the ongoing season of the County Championship. On May 7, he brought up his fourth hundred in the fourth consecutive match for Sussex as he scored an unbeaten 125 against Middlesex.
Pujara was dismissed for 16 in the first gig but made up for it with a terrific knock in the second innings to put his side in a strong position at the close of day three.
The Saurashtra batter played aggressively and scored 125* in just 149 balls. Thanks to his innings, Sussex reached 236/3 at the end of day’s play with a strong lead of 270.
Earlier, he scored centuries against Derbyshire, Worcestershire and Durham. He has converted two of these knocks into double centuries.
The ongoing edition of the County Championship made something unimaginable come to life as the Pakistan fast bowling superstar faced an Indian player in red-ball cricket for the first time. Pujara and Shaheen Shah Afridi involved in a thrilling duel in the fixture between Sussex and Middlesex.
The battle between the two saw Shaheen pepper the batter with short balls and testing lines, with a couple of edged and an LBW call going in Pujara’s favour. The Indian batter did manage to hit an upper cut for a six and a backfoot punch for a boundary.
After showing such form in the County Championship, it will be interesting to see whether Indian selectors bring back Pujara into the mix. In his place, the Indian team has entrusted Hanuma Vihari at number three, with Shubman Gill also in contention.
