File image of Cheteshwar Pujara.© AFP
As debate and discussion regarding India's Test team continues following their 46 all out collapse against New Zealand, a castaway man has delivered a reminder of his class. Cheteshwar Pujara, now 36, slammed a double century for Saurashtra against Chhattisgarh in the Ranji Trophy. Pujara's double century was his ninth double century in first-class cricket, making him the Indian batter with the joint-highest double centuries. He also edged closer to legendary Indian batter Rahul Dravid in an elite list, where he is only behind Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar.
Pujara's double century was his 66th in red-ball cricket, making him the fourth-highest Indian in that list. He is only two hundreds behind Rahul Dravid, who has 68. Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar hold the top spot with 81 first-class centuries.
Pujara's tally of 66 red-ball centuries is miles ahead of present India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Kohli has 36, while Rohit only has 29.
After Chhatisgarh piled up 578, Pujara's 234 helped Saurashtra draw the game. He scored his runs in 383 balls, with 25 fours and a six.
Pujara took his tally of double hundreds to nine, drawing him level with Paras Dogra as the Indian cricketer with the most double hundreds.
While Pujara appears to be out of favour from India's Test hopefuls, he still oozes class in the domestic setup. Pujara last played for India in June 2023, in a home Test against Australia.
With a marathon five-match Test series against Australia coming up in November and December, Pujara sent a reminder to the selectors about his quality. Pujara played a crucial hand in India's last two Border-Gavaskar series victories in Australia.
India, meanwhile, are set to play two more Test matches against New Zealand, as they aim to overturn the 1-0 deficit in the series.