Cheteshwar Pujara sets Indian record for first-class 200s, joins elite list
Cheteshwar Pujara continued his magnificent form in the domestic circuit as he slammed his 12th double ton in first-class cricket, beating the previous mark of 11 held by Vijay Merchant.
Cheteshwar Pujara is renowned for grinding the bowling attacks in domestic cricket. And the India No 3 claimed the record for most double centuries in first-class cricket by an Indian batsman on Thursday.
Pujara claimed the accolade while making 204 for Saurashtra against Jharkhand in a Group B Ranji Trophy game at Rajkot.
Pujara’s 12th double century overall took him past the mark of former India Test batsman Vijay Merchant (11). Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid are joint third in the list with 10 double centuries each.
Three of Cheteshwar Pujara’s 12 first-class double tons have come in Test cricket while two of those knocks are triple centuries.
Don Way Ahead
The world record for most double centuries in first-class cricket is held by Don Bradman. The Australian, regarded as the world’s finest batsman ever, crossed the 200-mark a whopping 37 times.
The next four places in the all-time list are taken by England batsmen Wally Hammond (36), Patsy Hendren (22), Herbert Sutcliffe (17) and Mark Ramprakash (17).
Prolific scorer
With 851 runs in eight games, Cheteshwar Pujara is India’s highest run-getter in Tests in 2017. In 2016, Pujara tallied 836 runs in 11 games at 55.73, with three tons and four fifties.
His form will be vital to India’s chances when they set off on overseas Test tour of South Africa, England and Australia starting early next year. Next up will be the home Test series against Sri Lanka, starting November 16.