Ranji Trophy: Cheteshwar Pujara smashes 63rd first-class century

Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], February 17 (ANI): Indian middle-order veteran and Saurashtra star Cheteshwar Pujara continued his rich run of form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, smashing his 63rd first-class century in the match against Manipur at Rajkot on Saturday.
In the match, Pujara scored 108 in 105 balls, with 12 fours and a six. Along with centuries by Prerak Mankad (173 in 173 balls, with 19 fours and a six) and skipper Arpit Vasavada (148 in 197 balls, with 18 fours and a six), Saurashtra made 529/6 declared in their first innings in reply to Manipur's 142 in the first innings, securing a 387-run lead.
Now, Manipur is 55/3 in their second innings, trailing by 332 runs.
In seven matches and 11 innings so far, Pujara has scored 781 runs at an average of 78.10, with three centuries and two fifties. His best score is 243*. He is the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament, with Ricky Bhui (860 in seven matches) of Andhra Pradesh at the top.
Pujara was the backbone of Indian middle-order batting from the early 2010s to the early 2020s. Pujara represented India in 103 Tests, scoring 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60, with 19 centuries and 35 fifties in 176 innings. His best score is 206*. Pujara has also played five ODIs for India.
However, since India's historic win over Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane in January 2021, in which he played a crucial role, Pujara's statistics have taken a huge nosedive. Since that iconic victory, which also helped India gain an inspirational series win in Australia, Pujara has represented India in 22 Tests further, scoring just 1,084 runs at an underwhelming average of 29.29, with just a century and seven fifties to show in 40 innings. This caused Pujara's omission from the team.
Pujara's last assignment for India was the ICC World Test Championship final in the UK, which India lost. The veteran batter was disappointed with the bat in the match and has not featured in Test cricket since then. He was ignored for the series against West Indies and South Africa away from home and then the home series against England as well. (ANI)