A run of performances in the County Championship Division Two that has led to some fans hailing him as the ‘County God’, Cheteshwar Pujara has racked up his second century in three matches in the ongoing championship for Sussex.
His attaining such a terrific patch ahead of the all-important World Test Championship final against Australia, in June, is a great piece of news for Team India.
Rohit Sharma’s side will take on Pat Cummins’ team at the Oval from June 7 for the ultimate prize in Test cricket. This is India’s another chance to win their first senior men’s ICC trophy since 2013 and end a decade-long wait.
After not being part of the IPL 2023 season, Cheteshwar Pujara kick-started his CC Div 2 campaign for Sussex, leading the team now, with a century against Durham in Hove. Against Yorkshire, he got out under 20 in both innings, but bounced back against Gloucestershire to hit 151 in his team’s total of 455.
India will be hoping the Cheteshwar Pujara continues his rich vein of form in the WTC final as well.
Hundred by Cheteshwar Pujara – yet another captain's innings by Pujara. He's unstoppable in the County Championship!
The preparations for the WTC Final are going superbly. pic.twitter.com/x3iiUphDqW
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 29, 2023
He’s currently the top-scorer of the County Championship Division Two with 332 runs in 5 innings at an average of 66.
With this century, meanwhile, Pujara also surpassed Wasim Jaffer in the list of Indian batters with the highest number of first-class centuries. Cheteshwar Pujara now has 58 under his belt and is placed fourth in the list that is led by none other than Sachin Tendulkar who hit a staggering 81 first-class hundreds.
Here is India’s squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
Australia’s squad for WTC final 2023:Pat Cummins (Captain), Steve Smith (VC), David Warner, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Harris, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, and Todd Murphy
