Cheteshwar Pujara scored his 18th first-class double hundred during a Ranji Trophy clash today (October 21), the fourth-most in the world.
Ahead of the Saurashtra-Chhattisgarh clash, Pujara was tied on 17 first-class double tons along with Mark Ramprakash and Herbert Sutcliffe. He overtook them and is now the sole occupant of the fourth spot in the list, with 18 double hundreds, the latest of which came in Rajkot on day four of the match.
Pujara’s team were up against Chhattisgarh’s mammoth total of 578-7d in the first innings. India’s former No.3 walked out at his preferred position after the fall of Harvik Desai’s wicket. He stitched together a 109-run stand with Sheldon Jackson before making 147 runs for the fourth wicket alongside Arpit Vasavada (73).
Pujara got to his hundred in 197 balls and needed 151 more to reach the second hundred. He was eventually dismissed for 234.
Only Don Bradman (37), Walter Hammond (36) and Elias Hendren (22) have more first-class double centuries than Pujara. Only Pujara, Ramprakash and Graeme Hick (16) have more than 15 double hundreds and have also played first-class cricket in the 21st century.
Pujara, who made his first score over 200 in November 2008, also has three triple hundreds in the format. He played 103 Tests for India, making 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60 with 19 hundreds, three of which were double tons.
Overall, he has played 272 first-class matches and surpassed 21,000 runs during his knock today. He has 66 hundreds along with 80 fifties.
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