Pujara receives autographed jersey from Australia team on occasion of his 100th Test
After the match, Pujara also received an autographed jersey from the entire Australian team, which was handed to him by captain Pat Cummins.
Playing in his 100th Test match, Cheteshwar Pujara played a crucial part as India defeated Australia by six wickets on Day 3 of their second Test, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The win helped Rohit Sharma and Co. take a 2-0 lead in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with two more matches to be played.
The 35-year-old slammed the winning runs to remain unbeaten on 31 of 74 deliveries. KS Bharat was at the other end and remained unbeaten, registering 23 off 22 balls. With 115 runs required to clinch victory, the hosts lost opener KL Rahul early in the run chase, and then Pujara added stability alongwith captain Rohit.
Rohit was dismissed for 31, and the responsibility fell on Virat Kohli and Pujara. Kohli departed after adding 20 runs to the total, reducing India to 69/3. The former captain also made history, completing 25,000 runs in international cricket, breaking the world record set by Sachin Tendulkar, who had achieved the feat in 549 innings. After Kohli's dismissal, Shreyas Iyer also lost his wicket fast after adding 12 runs.
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Day 3 began with Ravindra Jadeja decimating Australia's batting order with a seven-wicket haul. Ravichandran Ashwin also took three wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 113 in the second innings, resuming from their overnight score of 61/1.
After the match, Pujara also received an autographed jersey from the entire Australian team, which was handed to him by captain Pat Cummins. In 100 Tests, Pujara has registered 7052 runs with a highscore of 206*, packed with 19 centuries. The BCCI posted a photo of Cummins presenting the jersey to Pujara and captioned it as, "Spirit of Cricket Pat Cummins Cheteshwar Pujara What a special gesture that was! #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS".
After the match, Pujara lavished praise on his teammates and also spoke about his role in the game. " It's been a great Test match, unfortunately I didn't get any runs in the first innings, but I knew if I stay for the first 10 minutes I can score. A special feeling, was very nervous as my entire family was there. A special feeling to hit the winning boundary, looking forward to the remaining 2 Tests."
"Great achievement, we've been consistent over the last few years and it's our second title in the last 4 years. So, great work by the guys. I thought we'll chase something around 200-250, so we were prepared to go and do that", he further added.
