India has produced some fine batsmen over the years across formats. Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara has joined the list for his sublime batting skills, especially in the game's longest format.
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Known as the new Wall of Indian cricket, Pujara played a massive role in helping India retain the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Down Under. As he celebrates his 33rd birthday on Monday, we look at some of the outstanding records he holds in the format.
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Highest partnership in South Africa: In 2013, in Johannesburg, Pujara and Virat Kohli contributed to a 22-run stand for the third wicket. It turned out to be the joint-highest partnership in the country for any wicket, equalling the previous feat registered by Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar, in Cape Town 1997.
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Highest second innings score in SA: The same Test saw Pujara scoring a brave 153. It eventually turned out to be the highest second-innings knock by an Indian in the country, going past 129, by Kapil Dev.
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Second fastest to 1k: In 2013, against Australia in Hyderabad, Pujara scored his 1,000th run in the format. He eventually became the second fastest to do so from India, in 18 innings, after Vinod Kambli (14).
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Faced most deliveries in an innings: During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2017, in the Ranchi Test, Pujara played the longest innings of his career, where he faced 525 deliveries and scored 202 runs. It happens to be the longest innings in terms of balls faced by an Indian, to date.
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Third Indian to bat on all five days: It's a tedious task to bat on all five days of a Test match. Nonetheless, Pujara has this unique record to his name and is the third Indian to do so, after ML Jaisimha and Ravi Shastri. He attained the feat in 2017 during the Kolkata Test against Sri Lanka.
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