Cheteshwar Pujara hits 25th Ranji Trophy hundred, crosses 21,000 First-Class runs | Cricket News
Cheteshwar Pujara slammed his 25th Ranji Trophy hundred in the second round for Saurashtra against Chattisgarh in Rajkot.
Batting on Monday, Pujara reached his hundred in 197 balls as Saurashtra pursued Chattisgarh’s 578/7d first-innings total. Pujara brought up his 66th First Class hundred, taking him past Brian Lara’s tally in the format.
Among Indians, Pujara is the fourth-highest run-getter and century-maker in First Class cricket, only behind Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
Pujara also went past 21,000 FC runs during the knock in his 273rd match. Despite being out from the Test side since last year’s World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval, Pujara has continued piling runs in the red-ball circuit. The 36-year-old racked up 829 runs in the previous Ranji Trophy season, averaging 69.08 across eight matches.
In 2024, Pujara has thus far struck six centuries across 16 First Class matches with Saurashtra and Sussex in the County Championship.
Pujara’s 25 centuries is only bettered Paras Dogra (30) among active players in the Ranji Trophy. With nearly 7500 runs, Pujara is also Saurashtra’s second-highest run-getter in the tournament, behind Sitanshu Kotak.
Most First Class hundreds (Indians)
81 – Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar68 – Rahul Dravid66 – Cheteshwar Pujara
Most First Class runs (Indians)
25834 – Sunil Gavaskar25396 – Sachin Tendulkar23784 – Rahul Dravid21015* – Cheteshwar Pujara
