In Stats: All The Records Pujara Broke on Day 1 of the Sydney Test
Statistical highlights from Day 1 at the SCG, which belonged to one man alone: Cheteshwar Pujara.
Another day of stoic ‘Chesistance’ from India’s number three has led to a slew of record being broken on Day 1 of the fourth and final Test against Australia at Sydney on Thursday, 3 January.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s third hundred of the four-Test series has put him in exalted position, while also putting India in control of the deciding rubber at the SCG – and within touching distance of a first-ever Test series win on Australian soil.
Pujara, who came in to bat as early as the second over at the fall of KL Rahul’s wicket, remained unbeaten on 130 at Stumps as India ended the opening day on a commanding 303/4.
The statistical highlights from Day 1 of the fourth Test between Australia and India:
Cheteshwar Pujara’s 130 not out off 250 balls on the opening day at Sydney was
- his 18th hundred in Test matches
- his 16th first innings hundred in Tests
- his eighth hundred in Tests away from home
- his fifth hundred in Tests against Australia
- his third hundred of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy
- Pujara now has four centuries in Test matches since the start of 2018; only Virat Kohli, with five, has hit more Test hundreds in the same time-period.
- Pujara joins Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli as the only Indians to have scored three or more centuries in a single Test series in Australia. Gavaskar had hit three tons during India’s tour in 1977, while Kohli remains the only Indian batsman with four in a series Down Under (in 2014/15).
- All three of Pujara’s tons on the tour have come while batting at number three, making him only the second visiting batsman to have scored three hundreds from number three in a Test series in Australia.
- The stonewalling Down Under has made the ongoing four-match contest Pujara’s most productive Test series. As at the end of the opening day’s play in Sydney, Pujara’s aggregate for the series stands at 458 runs.
- As at Stumps on Day 1, Pujara has also faced 1135 balls in the series – his highest tally for any Test series, and the third-highest for any visiting batsman in a series of four or lesser matches, behind Herbert Sutcliffe (1237 balls, 1928/29) and Rahul Dravid (1203 balls, 2003/04).
Mayank Makes a Mark, Again
- Mayank Agarwal continued a fruitful initiation into international cricket, following up on his 76 in his maiden Test innings at Melbourne with a 77 at Sydney.
- Two Bengaluru boys opened the batting for India, as KL Rahul returned to join his Karnataka mate at the top of the order. The pair had earlier opened the batting for India in under-19 cricket, their state in domestic cricket and Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.
- Rahul’s continued failure, and Agarwal’s continuing early-career joy, means the newcomer has already put himself ahead of his more-experienced team-mates as far as this series is concerned. Having batted just thrice, the 27-year-old has 68 more runs than the rest of India’s openers have managed in 11 innings over the four-Test contest.
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