On Sunday, August 24, Cheteshwar Pujara announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket through his social media accounts. Pujara was one of the reasons behind India’s dominance in Test cricket in the last few years. He made his Test debut in October 2010 against Australia.
Pujara finished with 7195 runs in 103 Test matches at an average of 43.60. He scored a total of 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries in Test matches for India. Apart from Afghanistan, Pujara scored a century against all the opponents that he faced in Test matches.
Apart from New Zealand and the West Indies, Pujara made a century in all countries where he played a Test match. Pujara made three centuries each in Australia and Sri Lanka.
Here are the complete career stats of Cheteshwar Pujara:
| Format | Tests | ODIs | FC | List A | T20s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 103 | 5 | 278 | 130 | 71 |
| Innings | 176 | 5 | 457 | 127 | 63 |
| NO | 11 | 0 | 46 | 26 | 10 |
| Runs | 7195 | 51 | 21301 | 5759 | 1556 |
| Highest Score | 206* | 27 | 352 | 174 | 100* |
| Average | 43.6 | 10.2 | 51.82 | 57.01 | 29.35 |
| Balls Faced | 16217 | 130 | 41715 | – | 1387 |
| Strike Rate | 44.36 | 39.23 | 51.06 | – | 112.18 |
| 100s | 19 | 0 | 66 | 16 | 1 |
| 50s | 35 | 0 | 81 | 34 | 9 |
| 4s | 863 | 4 | 2670 | – | 182 |
| 6s | 16 | 0 | 64 | – | 27 |
| Catches | 66 | 0 | 160 | 47 | 37 |
Top Records of Cheteshwar Pujara
Here are some of the remarkable feats of Cheteshwar Pujara during his cricket career:
1. Second-Most Runs in the Number Three Position Since His Debut
Pujara made 6529 runs while batting in the number three place for India. Since his debut, only Kane Williamson has made more runs than Pujara while batting in the number three place.
Pujara scored a total of 18 centuries for India in the number three position. Only Williamson has made more centuries in this period in number three place.
2. One of The Most Successful Number Three Batters For India
For India, only Rahul Dravid has made more centuries batting in the number three place than Pujara. Pujara has made 32 half-centuries in the number three place. No other batter has made more than 20 half-centuries batting in the number three place for India.
He is among the six batters who have made a double-century for India in the number three place. Pujara and Dravid are the only two players who have batted in the number three place and scored more than 1000 runs in a year for India.
3. Only Indian to Have Faced More Than 500 Balls In a Test Innings
Australia toured India in 2017 to play a four-match Test series. The third Test of the series was played in Ranchi, and Australia made 451 runs in the first innings. In India’s first innings, Pujara became the first and only Indian batter to face 500 deliveries in an innings in a Test match.
Pujara made his third and last double-century of his Test career and was dismissed for 202 runs off 525 deliveries. He had a partnership of 199 runs for the seventh wicket along with Wriddhiman Saha.
4. Third Fastest Indian to Score 1000 Runs
In 2013, during the second Test of the four-match series against Australia, Pujara made 204 runs off 341 deliveries. In the same match, he reached the 1000-run mark for India in Test cricket. It took him 18 innings to reach the 1000-run mark.
He was the second-fastest Indian batter to score 1000 runs in Test cricket at that time. Vinod Kambli is the fastest Indian batter to make 1000 runs for India in Test cricket. He took 14 innings to reach the mark. Yashasvi Jaiswal took 16 innings to reach the 1000 run mark in 2024, and he overtook Pujara on this list.
5. Made the Most Centuries In India’s First-Ever Series Win in Australia
Pujara is one of three batters who have made over 500 runs in a Test series in Australia. He achieved this mark during India’s tour of Australia in 2018. This was the first time India won a Test series in Australia.
Pujara was the highest scorer in that series and made 521 runs in seven innings at an average of 74.42. He made three centuries on that tour. He is one of the three players who have made three or more centuries in a series in Australia. The other two players are Virat Kohli (4) and Sunil Gavaskar (3).
6. Second Runs For India in First-Class Matches Held in India
Pujara is one of the two batters who have made over 10,000 runs in first-class runs held in India. Wasim Jaffer is the highest run-scorer in first-class matches held in India, and Pujara is second on this list. Jaffer has made 14609 runs in 186 first-class matches in India at an average of 53.70.
Pujara scored 13603 runs in first-class matches held in India in 167 matches at an average of 57.88 and has made 41 centuries. He is one of the two batters who have made more than 40 centuries in first-class matches held in India. Pujara has the highest average by any batter in India for first-class matches.
7. Most Runs By An Indian in a Single First-Class Season
During the 2016-17 season, Pujara made 2064 runs in 17 matches at an average of 82.56. He broke a 48-year-old record as he became the Indian batter with the most runs in a single first-class season.
Pujara also became the first Indian batter to make more than 2000 runs in a single first-class season. Chandu Borde made 1604 runs during the 1964-65 season in 21 matches at an average of 64.16. Pujara came close to breaking this record during the 2012-13 season as well, when he made 1585 runs in 13 matches at an average of 93.23.
8. Played the Most Deliveries Before Scoring the First Run in an Innings For India
In 2018, India travelled to South Africa to play a three-match series. After losing the first two matches, India arrived in Johannesburg to play the third Test of the series. India won the toss and elected to bat. The team lost the first two wickets for just 13 runs.
Pujara joined Virat Kohli in the middle. He faced 53 deliveries before scoring his first run and thus became the Indian batter who has faced the most deliveries before scoring a run in an innings. Before Pujara, Dravid took 40 deliveries to score his first run in a Test innings against Australia in 2007.
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