Cheteshwar Pujara Scores Century On Home Debut For Nottinghamshire
May 27, 2017 at 11:28 AM
Continuing his red-hot form in red-ball cricket, India’s middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara scored a brilliant century on his home debut for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship Division Two in Nottingham on Friday (May 26).
The India Test team’s batting mainstay, who was overlooked in this year’s Indian Premier League too, scored his 39th first-class hundred in 174 balls with the help of 13 fours against Gloucestershire before being dismissed for 112 by Craig Miles.
The right-handed batsman batted alongside Michael Lumb (117), as the two shared an 185-run stand for the fourth wicket. Nottinghamshire were 307 for four after Pujara’s dismissal and finished day one on 357 for five.
Pujara, who was signed as a replacement for James Pattinson, had managed just two runs against Glamorgan in his first match of the season.
Brilliant home season:
Pujara enjoyed a highly successful home season which consisted of as many as 13 Tests. Pujara did not start the lengthy Test season on a good note. During the West Indies tour, he scored 62 runs in two Tests before being dropped from the team for the third test. In fact, he was also criticised for consuming too many balls.
The team then returned to India where Pujara featured in the Duleep Trophy with a point to prove. He scored a century, and then a double century in the final to prove his worth. Then began the grand home season against New Zealand where the right-handed batsman finished the three-match series as its highest scorer with 373 runs.
He carried his form into the Test series against England too – scoring two centuries and a half-century to score 401 runs in the four-match series.
In the one-off Test against Bangladesh, he scored 83 before starring with the bat once again in the fiercely-fought four-match series against Australia. He was India’s highest run-scorer with 405 runs including a double century and two fifties. Overall, he finished the 2016-17 season with 1316 runs which included four hundreds and eight half-centuries.