Cheteshwar Pujara County cricket: The right-handed batter from Saurashtra has displayed a fine form in the ongoing County Championship 2022.
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Having missed the first match of the ongoing County Championship Division Two 2022 against Nottinghamshire due to visa issues, team India and Sussex batter Cheteshwar Pujara has piled up huge scores in the following three matches for his side.
After a consistent run of poor form for his national side, Pujara was dropped from the Test team following India’s series loss against South Africa in January this year.
With the 34-year-old also remaining unsold during the mega auction for IPL 2022, the County Championship in the UK had to be the stage for the veteran batter to find his lost form back, and he did grab the same with both hands.
While he could just manage to score 6 (15) in the first innings for Sussex in his first match of the season against Derbyshire, he backed it up with a fine unbeaten double century – 201* (387) in the second innings to Draw the match for his side.
In his side’s next encounter against Worcestershire, Pujara smashed yet another century (109) in the first innings, with the assistance of 16 Fours.
Cheteshwar Pujara County cricket
Continuing with his purple patch of form, the veteran batter scored his second double hundred of the season – 203 (334), against Durham this time around, with the assistance of 24 Fours.
With the aforementioned double ton, the Saurashtra batter became only the second Indian to smash two scores above the 200-run mark, joining Mohammad Azharuddin, who had scored 212 (in the year 1991) and 205 (in the year 1994) while playing for Derbyshire.
Moreover, in what was his 15th first-class double-century, Pujara is now two double tons ahead of Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (with 13) to further cement his place at the top of the list of most scores of 200+ amongst Asian batters.
C Pujara total runs in County Championship 2022 (updated)
Overall, in the County championship so far, Pujara has amassed 997 runs across 10 innings at an average of 124.62, with the help of five centuries (including three double centuries).
