10 Interesting Facts on Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara who succeeded Rahul Dravid as India’s No.3 batsman in Test Cricket, was born on January 25, 1988 at Rajkot in Gujarat. At a time when T20 cricket impacts the batting in Test cricket, Pujara stays grounded in his old school of thought and takes absolute pleasure in grinding down the opponent attack for hours together which is mentally and physically tolling for the bowlers. He averages above 50 in both First Class and List-A Cricket formats.

Let’s take a look at some interesting facts on Cheteshwar Pujara

10. Son and Nephew of First Class Cricketers

Cheteshwar Pujara’s dad Arvind Pujara and uncle Bipin Pujara both played First Class Cricket for Saurashtra as wicket keeper batsmen.

Arvind Pujara’s nephews photographed a 2 and half year old Cheteshwar while batting. Sensing that his son had good balance and focus he initiated Che to cricket.

9. All-rounder Turned Batsman

As a kid Pujara started as a potential all-rounder with leg spinning ability. Later his coach and former Indian all-rounder Karsan Ghavri asked him to focus on batting alone. Ghavri predicted Pujara will make it to the Indian national team one day.

8. Mother’s Prediction

Pujara’s mother Reena once said, “When he is selected in the Indian team, he will be unstoppable.” Unfortunately she wasn’t there to see her son’s success as she was diagnosed with cancer and passed away back in 2005. Cheteshwar was playing a Ranji Trophy match at the age of 17 when he heard of his mom’s death. This made Pujara more determined to play the game and become consistent at it.

7. Man of the Tournament In U-19 World Cup

Cheteshwar Pujara was the leading run getter of the 2006 U-19 World Cup tournament with 349 runs in 6 innings at an average of 116.33 – scoring 1 century and 2 half centuries at a strike rate of 82.11. Pujara was adjudged the Man of the Tournament award for his effort.

6. U-19 World Cup Team Mates

Pujara played the U-19 World Cup for India alongside Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Shahbaz Nadeem and Piyush Chawla in 2006. Team India finished runners up in that tournament.

5. The Fastest Indian To 1000 Test Runs

Cheteshwar Pujara is the joint fastest Indian along with Sunil Gavaskar to achieve 1000 Test runs in terms of matches played. Pujara took 11 matches to achieve this feat. In terms of innings, Vinod Kambli holds the record in 12 innings.

4. ICC Emerging Cricketer Of The Year

Cheteshwar Pujara won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the year award in 2013 for his brilliant performances with the bat in India and abroad.

3. Brand Ambassador of Gujarat

Cheteshwar Pujara was appointed as the Brand Ambassador of Gujarat in February 2014 by the State Election Commission.

2. Most balls faced by an Indian Cricketer

When Cheteshwar Pujara scored 202 runs in 525 balls against Australia at Ranchi in March 2017, he became the Indian to face the most number of deliveries in Test innings.

1. IPL Stints

Cheteshwar Pujara made his IPL debut with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010. He later played for Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2011-13. In 2014 Pujara was a part of Kings XI Punjab team which finished runners up that year. He remained unsold in the auction since 2015 until CSK bought him for 50 lakh INR in 2021 auction but has not featured in any match!