When Cheteshwar Pujara made his Test debut back in 2010, India got a ready-made replacement for Rahul Dravid. Pujara also has a similar batting style to Dravid, with fans touting him as The Wall 2.0.
Now he is far from Dravid’s run tally, but he showed his ability to block the ball and bat longer on the crease. That helped India have a reliable batter in Pujara on the crease, holding one end while others played around him.
The right-hand batter’s defensive style in an era of attacking batters brought massive runs and big scores as he toiled on the pitch for longer durations. This is reflected pretty clearly in his stats while playing at home and away.
So here we’ll glance at Cheteshwar Pujara’s Test record, including runs, centuries, and highest scores.
Cheteshwar Pujara: Test Batting Stats
| Span | Matches | Inns | Runs | High Score | Average | 100s/50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-2023 | 103 | 176 | 7195 | 206* | 43.60 | 19/35 |
After grinding in first-class cricket for five years, Pujara finally got his India cap in October 2010 against Australia in Bengaluru. He got off the mark with a four but then got LBW out on the next ball to end his three-ball stay in his maiden innings.
But the Saurashtra batter mustered a 72-run knock in Dravid’s No. 3 place to help India chase the 207-run target and win the series 2-0. He showed promise, but poor outings in the next two matches meant he didn’t get a game for the next one and a half years.
However, on his return to the squad in 2012 against New Zealand, Pujara amassed 159 runs in the Hyderabad Test, almost cementing his spot for a decade. Since then, he started frustrating opposition bowlers with his defensive technique and made them earn his wicket.
Pujara’s consistent run-making ensured he represented India in over 100 Tests, with his most recent appearance coming in the 2023 World Test Championship final.
In 103 Tests for India thus far, the right-hand batter has accumulated 7195 runs at an average of 43.60. He has been the lynchpin of India’s batting lineup, often putting a break on wicket-falling with his solid defence.
Pujara has a remarkable batting record against varied bowling attacks. Of his total runs, 2074 runs alone came against Australia, a team known to have formidable bowlers, at an impressive average of 49.38.
He has amassed 1778 runs against England, followed by South Africa (882), New Zealand (867), and Sri Lanka (743), while keeping his average above 30 against them.
Pujara’s record in home and away Tests is also equally commendable. He has racked up 3839 runs in 51 Tests at an average of 52.58 at home, while he has scored 3292 runs in 50 matches at an average of 37.40.
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Cheteshwar Pujara: Test Centuries and Highest Scores
Apart from his magnificent run tally, Pujara also added 19 centuries in the process, which is the seventh most by an Indian batter in Test cricket.
He brought up his maiden Test ton against New Zealand in 2012, scoring 159 runs on return to the squad while batting at No. 3. A couple of matches later, Pujara smashed the first of his three double centuries, netting an unbeaten 206 against England, which is also his highest score in this format.
Of his 19 hundreds, the top-order batter hammered five centuries each against Australia and England, showing his determination against the top bowling attacks. He scored four tons against Sri Lanka, two versus New Zealand, and one each against Bangladesh, South Africa, and West Indies.
Pujara’s most memorable performance came during the 2018/19 Australia tour, where he scored three centuries, paving the way for India to win their first Test series down under.
Read Also:- Most Runs In Test Cricket
You can check out the complete list of centuries scored by Pujara in his Test career below.
Cheteshwar Pujara Test Centuries List
| No. | Runs | Balls Faced | Against | Venue | Start Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 159 | 306 | New Zealand | Hyderabad | 23 Aug 2012 |
| 2 | 206* | 389 | England | Ahmedabad | 15 Nov 2012 |
| 3 | 135 | 350 | England | Wankhede | 23 Nov 2012 |
| 4 | 204 | 341 | Australia | Hyderabad | 2 Mar 2013 |
| 5 | 113 | 167 | West Indies | Wankhede | 14 Nov 2013 |
| 6 | 153 | 270 | South Africa | Johannesburg | 18 Dec 2013 |
| 7 | 145* | 289 | Sri Lanka | Colombo (SSC) | 28 Aug 2015 |
| 8 | 101* | 148 | New Zealand | Indore | 8 Oct 2016 |
| 9 | 124 | 206 | England | Rajkot | 9 Nov 2016 |
| 10 | 119 | 204 | England | Visakhapatnam | 17 Nov 2016 |
| 11 | 202 | 525 | Australia | Ranchi | 16 Mar 2017 |
| 12 | 153 | 265 | Sri Lanka | Galle | 26 Jul 2017 |
| 13 | 133 | 232 | Sri Lanka | Colombo (SSC) | 3 Aug 2017 |
| 14 | 143 | 362 | Sri Lanka | Nagpur | 24 Nov 2017 |
| 15 | 132* | 257 | England | Southampton | 30 Aug 2018 |
| 16 | 123 | 246 | Australia | Adelaide | 6 Dec 2018 |
| 17 | 106 | 319 | Australia | Melbourne | 26 Dec 2018 |
| 18 | 193 | 373 | Australia | Sydney | 3 Jan 2019 |
| 19 | 102* | 130 | Bangladesh | Chattogram | 14 Dec 2022 |
