- Tuesday, March 11, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
India batter Cheteshwar Pujara is a name which is not generally associated with cricket’s white-ball formats. But the 34-year-old Test specialist has challenged his image in England where he has been making tons of runs in not only the red-ball but even in white-ball tournaments.
In eight limited-over matches for Sussex who he is captaining as an interim leader in Royal London One-Day Cup, Pujara has slammed three centuries and two fifties and most of the knocks have come at a brisk pace. Otherwise known for his knack of consuming deliveries, Pujara has scored 614 runs so far in the tournament at a strike rate of 116 plus, something which is unlike for a batter who has played only five one-day internationals and no T20 international for his country.
Pujara is currently at the second position in the list of run-getters of the season behind Middlesex’s Stephen Eskinazi who has slammed 658 runs with four tons and one fifty.
The middle-order batter has been batting with authority ever since he was dropped from India’s Test squad earlier this year. He hit form in India’s domestic Ranji Trophy and county cricket to force his comeback into the national reckoning within a few months.
On Wednesday (24), former India pacer Dodda Ganesh said in a tweet that he was not surprised by Pujara’s show in England, saying he has an impressive average of over 57 in ‘List A’ cricket.
“Pujara was always a fine batsman at the List-A level. His avg of 57 is a testament to it. So his recent heroics in this format in county cricket, is not surprising at all,” Ganesh said.
Pujara was always a fine batsman at the List-A level. His avg of 57 is a testament to it. So his recent heroics in this format in county cricket, is not surprising at all #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter
— ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ | Dodda Ganesh (@doddaganesha) August 24, 2022
Pujara has played 111 ‘List A’ games so far scoring 5,059 runs, including 14 centuries and 31 fifties.
While he has played 96 Tests till date with more than 6,700 runs, Pujara’s five one-day internationals came way back in 2013-14. He has scored 51 runs in them with the highest score of 27. He has also played only 30 games in the Indian Premier League between 2010 and 2014, scoring 390 runs at a strike rate of below 100.
