Hungry comeback Cheteshwar Pujara achieves tremendous Ranji century, completes 21,000 runs in first-class cricket

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been out of the national team since the 2023 World Test Championship final against Australia. However, the 36-year-old cricketer has not given up hope of a comeback in India as he brought up his A-game on day 4 of the second round match in the ongoing match. Ranji Trophy 2024-25played at Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot.

The batsman hit a boundary towards the long on region and completed his century. During this milestone, Pujara achieved an even greater feat as he crossed the 21,000-run mark in his first-class career.

Playing beautiful drives and looks during his undefeated stroke, Pujara scored runs all over the park and achieved another three-figure score in first-class cricket. In the clash against Chhattisgarh, Pujara came into bat on the third day as the opposition had posted a mammoth total of 578-7d in the first innings. Chasing this mountainous path, the ace batsman took it upon himself to take Saurashtra as close to the total as possible.

Pujara came to bat at 3, his usual position, and first teamed up with Chirag Jani for a 68-run partnership. After Jani’s dismissal, he was joined by a professional wicketkeeper-batsman Sheldon Jacksonwhere the duo scored 109 runs for the third wicket. Jackson, who had batted brilliantly for his 62, departed early on the fourth day, leaving Saurashtra in trouble as they still trailed by 388 runs.

Currently, left-hander Arpit Vasavada is next to Pujara and has managed to work with the latter for half a century. At the time of writing, the scoreboard for Saurashtra stands at 271 for the loss of three wickets in 77 overs, and the team is still 307 runs behind. Ashish Chauhan, Ajay Mandal and Shashank Singh have taken a wicket each for Chhattisgarh.

Pujara’s hunger, grit and determination

In the previous edition of the prestigious Ranji Trophy tournament, Pujara was the third highest scorer with 829 runs and the sensational start to the current season also gives him hope of making a comeback into the Indian team once again.

Also read: Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Ruturaj Gaikwad hits sensational century against Mumbai in Round 2

However, the competition is very tough as Abhimanyu Easwaran has also batted well at the top order in domestic cricket.

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