IND vs ENG: In absence of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, Cheteshwar Pujara strengthens case for India comeback with 62nd first-class hundred

Cheteshwar Pujara continued his red-hot form with the bat in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season as he scored his 62nd first-class hundred against Rajasthan in the Elite Group A match in Jaipur.

A typically constructed knock from the stonewaller, after Saurashtra went two wickets down for 33, saw him lace a mere nine boundaries to score his 110 runs off 230 deliveries.

It was a second triple figure score for Pujara, who is the third-highest run scorer in the ongoing red-ball season in India, with 648 runs from six matches. The 36-year-old also has two fifties to his name.

Last month, the Saurashtra batter had sized up a double hundred and became only the fourth Indian to cross the 20,000 first class runs milestone after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar.

Having been dropped from the Indian Test side following the 2023 World Test Championship final, runs from the longtime India number three couldn’t have come at a better time with the Indian team having a middle order batting void to fill in the ongoing Test series against England.

The Indian Express had earlier reported on Friday that Shreyas Iyer is in danger of missing out on the remaining series after he complained of a stiff back and groin pain. But the middle-order batter’s fitness isn’t the only that concern for Rohit Sharma and Co. It is also believed that former India captain Virat Kohli, who had decided to sit out the first two Tests, won’t be available for selection come the Rajkot Test.

• U-19 World Cup: From Rewa, Saumy Pandey, the boy who could be the next Ravindra Jadeja
• Breaking: Shreyas Iyer complains of stiff back and groin pain, likely to miss last three Tests
• Why Shreyas Iyer is living on borrowed time in the England series

Pujara, who has 103 Tests under his belt, had last played a red ball game at home in March last year against Australia.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.