Image Credit- PTI
In the first round of the 2023–24 Ranji Trophy season,
Cheteshwar Pujara achieved his 17th double-century in first-class cricket
against Jharkhand. After opening the third day’s play on 157, Pujara advanced
to 200 and was undefeated at 236 at lunch. Saurashtra had a commanding 424-run
advantage at the half, standing at 566 for 4.
With 17 first-class doubles, Pujara is currently tied
with Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash, but he is still behind Patsy
Hendren (22) and Wally Hammond (36) overall. In the Ranji Trophy, Pujara
achieved his eighth double-hundred, placing him second on the list only to
Paras Dogra’s nine.
Pujara is hoping that his most recent double puts him
in the running for the five-Test series against England, which begins in
Hyderabad on January 25. In June, Pujara participated in the World Test
Championship final at The Oval against Australia, where he scored 14 and 27
runs but India lost by a total of 209 runs.
Since then, India has participated in two two-game
Test series, one in the West Indies in July 2023 and the other most recently in
South Africa. In every one of those Test matches where Yashasvi Jaiswal opened
the batting, Shubman Gill fell to No. 3.
While this was going on, Pujara participated in county
cricket for Sussex, the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Irani Cup, an
annual first-class tournament that pits the Ranji Trophy winners against the
rest of India. However, his results have not been particularly noteworthy thus
far.
Before the India squad for the England Tests is
announced, he will most likely participate in at least one more round of Ranji
matches, which will be at home against Haryana from January 12 to 15. The
third-round match between Saurashtra and Vidarbha is scheduled for January
19–22.