Sports

Cheteshwar Pujara returns to form, smashes maiden first-class double century for Sussex

April 17, 2022
Bharat Times

Cheteshwar Pujara shared a partnership of 351 runs with skipper Tom Haines and guided Sussex to safer shores in the County Championship match.

Cheteshwar Pujara. Courtesy: AP

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Pujara stayed unbeaten on 201 off 387 balls
  • Pujara smashed 23 fours en-route his double century
  • Pujara also shared a handy partnership along with Tom Haines

Cheteshwar Pujara has struggled for runs of late while playing for Team India over the last 12 months or so. The veteran, subsequently, was dropped from the national squad for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka last month. To his dismay, he also went unsold in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction that took place on February 12 and 13 in Bangalore.

However, the veteran has found his mojo while playing for Sussex in the ongoing County Championship. In the first innings, Pujara got out to right-arm medium pacer Anuj Kailash Dal after scoring only six runs off 15 balls. But he made amends in the second innings, scoring a magnificent double century. After declaring their innings at 505/8, Derbyshire bowled Sussex out for 174.

Cheteshwar Pujara oozing class

Having conceded a lead of 331 runs, Derbyshire found themselves in trouble in their second innings after losing Ali Orr and Tom Alsop cheaply. From there on, opening batter Tom Haines and Pujara bailed their team out of jail. While the Sussex skipper went on to score a double century, Pujara raced to his double century and showed his prowess to play under immense pressure.

At the time of writing the article, the right-handed Pujara had smashed 201 runs with the help of 23 fours. On Day four, Pujara and Haines put on 351 runs together for the third wicket. Haines went on to score 243 runs off 491 balls with 22 fours.

Nick Potts separated the duo after getting rid of Haines at the fag end of the day. The match eventually ended in a draw. Derbyshire would feel they missed out on a golden chance of securing a win after getting their opponent on the mat.

Barring Sam Connors and Potts, none of the Derbyshire bowlers could manage to make a breakthrough. It remains to be seen if Pujara can make his way into the Indian team in the future amidst the emergence of quite a few young cricketers in the country.