In Stats: Pujara 3rd Fastest Indian to Score 4000 Test Runs & More
Cheteshwar Pujara crossed another career milestone on Tuesday, but at a much quicker pace than ever before.
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The opening day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and India was simply a classic day of Test match cricket – with ebbs and flows and the pendulum swinging to and fro between the two teams.
After captain Virat Kohli opted to bat first, India got off to a rollicking start, before Sri Lanka clawed back briefly through two quick wickets. But India were back in the driver’s seat by the end of the day’s play, with Pujara and Rahane scoring 128* and 103* respectively, and stitching together an unbeaten 211-run partnership; when stumps were drawn at the end of the first day’s play, India were 344/3.
Answering the Opening Conundrum
India were faced with a conundrum with regards to their opening pair in the days leading up to the Test match. There was a lot of debate if the recovering KL Rahul should be rushed back into the team, and if he is, then who between Abhinav Mukund and Shikhar Dhawan should make way for him.
Captain Virat Kohli had indicated on the eve of the match that Dhawan, by virtue of being the dangerous batsman he is and his ability to demolish the opposition, would partner Rahul at the top of the innings. At the SSC on Thursday, Dhawan showed why he is rated so highly, as he helped India off to a brisk start; his first five scoring strokes read 4, 6, 1, 4 and 4, and India were up and running in style. By the time the openers were separated at the start of the eleventh over – when Dhawan was ruled LBW upon review – India had landed the first blow and had raced to 56.
Rahul Returns With a Fifty
Rahul, who was happy to play second fiddle when Dhawan was motoring along, celebrated his return to the Indian Test team by scoring a half-century; the opener from Karnataka began slowly playing a series of consecutive dot deliveries, but once he found his timing, he turned busy, rotating the strike frequently while also picking up the occasional boundary.
In the 27th over, he drove Rangana Herath for an inside-out boundary to bring up his half-century; this was the sixth consecutive Test innings in which Rahul had scored a half-century. He joined an exclusive club with two other legendary batsmen from Karnataka – Gundappa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid - who were the only other Indian cricketers to score half-centuries in six consecutive Test innings.
Pujara Celebrates 50th Test
Sri Lanka had an opportunity to claw their way back into the game when Rahul was run out after a mix-up in the running and Kohli cut Herath to slip. But Pujara then upped the ante, and in the company of a solid Rahane, slammed the door on the little opening Sri Lanka had.
Pujara, who was playing his 50th Test match, celebrated the occasion by getting past the 4000 Test runs milestone, and then carried on to score his 13th century in the format.
Pujara became the joint-third quickest among Indian batsmen to get to the 4000-Test runs milestone; Virender Sehwag got there in 79 innings, Sunil Gavaskar got there in 81 innings, while Rahul Dravid (and now Pujara) needed 84 innings to reach the milestone.