India’s test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara played an important role in Team India’s commanding 188-run win against Bangladesh in the 1st Test match in Chattogram. Pujara played a stunning knock of 90 runs in the first innings of the game, which was followed by a century in the second innings. His batting heroics made sure that India batted Bangladesh out of the match.
In the first innings, Pujara walked out to bat when India was reduced to 112.4, but knowing the importance of his wicket, Pujara batted through and stitched a huge partnership with Shreyas Iyer. Pujara missed out on his century by 10 runs, however, he made up for it in the second innings by registering a stunning ton for India in nearly 3 years. This was also Pujara’s fastest century in his Test career.
Cheteshwar Pujara opens up on his fastest century
Batting at a strike rate of 78.46, Pujara smashed the Bangladeshi bowlers to all the corners of the ground and reached the triple-figure mark off just 130 balls. His knock was laced with 13 boundaries. However, Pujara rates his innings of 90 runs higher than the one where he smashed the century.
Yes, you read that right. After India’s win in the 1st Test match, Pujara talked about his knocks and said that his knock in the first innings was an important one for the team. He said:
“It was special. I never expected that I would get to the three-figure mark in the second innings. By tea, I was close to 50 but I never realised there was enough time to get to a hundred. It went really well; I have been practicing some shots so it really helped me in this particular game. For me, the special knock was the first innings one where I missed out on a hundred but it was an important knock for the team,” Pujara said after India took a 1-0 lead in the series.
“We’ll have to work hard. We’ll have to be disciplined and hopefully we’ll win at least 3 out of 4 to qualify for the WTC final,” mentioned Pujara.
Meanwhile, after toiling hard for four days, the Indian cricket team defeated Bangladesh with a 199-run win in the first Test match of the ongoing 2-match series. With this win the Indian side made big progress in the World Test Championship points table. With this win, the Indian side has taken a lead of 1-0 in the ongoing 2-match Test series.
