Cheteshwar Pujara might be away from the Indian team but he doesn't seem to have given up hopes of making a comeback. He is scoring a truckload of runs in domestic cricket and also features in County Cricket during the off-season. Currently, he is playing for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy and smashed a double-century today in the game against Chhattisgarh.
Pujara came out to bat at number three after losing Harvik Desai early and spent his time in the middle for a staggering 127 overs. The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot has dished out a flat track with both teams scoring runs for fun. Pujara also made the most of the batting conditions to score 234 runs off 383 runs with 25 fours and a six to his name.
This is his 18th double-century in first-class cricket and has jumped to fourth position in the list of players with the most 200-plus scores in FC cricket. Pujara is the only active player in the top 50 of this list and the next best is former England skipper Joe Root with nine double tons in FC cricket. Don Bradman, Wally Hammond and Elias Hendren are the only players with the most 200-plus scores than Pujara now in the history of first-class cricket.
Most double-centuries in first-class cricket
| Players |
Double-Centuries |
| Don Bradman |
37 |
| Wally Hammond |
36 |
| Elias Hendren |
22 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara |
18 |
| Herbert Sutcliffe, Mark Ramprakash |
17 |
As far as the match is concerned, Pujara's knock helped Saurashtra get closer to Chhattisgarh's total in the first innings. The latter side posted a massive total of 578 runs for the loss of seven wickets before declaring on the back of a century from their skipper Amandeep Khare. In response, Pujara led the way for Saurashtra with a brilliant 234-run knock to finish on 478 runs for the loss of seven wickets with the match ending in a draw.
