Happy Birthday Cheteshwar Pujara: Here are 5 unknown facts about the Wall from Rajkot

Cheteshwar Pujara has cemented his place with Team India and is commonly referred to as the new Wall of Indian cricket, after Rahul Dravid. Having helped India retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he has two reasons to celebrate, including his 33rd birthday on Monday.

India's top-order Test batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara is one of the well-set batsmen in Test cricket. Known for his impenetrable batting, he is known to frustrate the bowlers across the globe.

As a result, he has earned the nickname of the new Wall in Indian cricket. Meanwhile, as he celebrates his 33rd birthday on Monday, we look at five of his facts, you might be unaware of:

Started as an all-rounder: While he might be an established top-order batsman, hardly anyone knows that he started as an all-rounder. He used to bowl right-arm leg-spin. Nonetheless, we are happy that he focused on his batting, which has given the Indian line-up stability.

Three triple centuries in a month: Although this is not an official record, Pujara once scored triple centuries within a month. The final one happened to be an official First-Class game, while the other two were just regular games. Nevertheless, it is still a record in itself.

Inspired by his mother: While most of the cricketers are inspired by their father to get into cricket, for Pujara, it was his mother. However, she passed away when he was aged 17. Incidentally, Pujara made his debut just five years since.

Second highest Lisa A average for India: Now, this might come as a shock, but Pujara possesses the second-best batting average among Indians, after Virat Kohli (57.86). Despite an average of 54.20, he has limited himself to Test cricket. Although he does not mind playing One-Day Internationals, judging by India's set team, he would find it difficult to get a place.

Fastest to 1k in Tests: In 2013, against Australia in Hyderabad, Pujara scored his 1,000th run in the format. He eventually became the fastest to do so from India, in 11 games, besides being the second-fastest from the country in terms of innings (18), after Vinod Kambli (14).