Stats: Most balls faced in a Test innings in India

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Cheteshwar Pujara
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Cheteshwar Pujara. (Photo Source: BCCI)

A marathon knock from Cheteshwar Pujara which lasted for over 11 hours ensured India took first innings lead at the JSCA Stadium at Ranchi in the ongoing 3rd Test match of the series against Australia. Pujara struck his 3rd double century in his Test career as he scored 202 off 525 balls.

By facing 505 balls in the innings, Pujara broke the Indian record for most balls faced in a Test inning and became the first Indian player to face 500 deliveries in an innings in Test cricket. He went past his idol Rahul Dravid’s 495-ball record knock that he had played against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2004.  Dravid recorded his career best score of 270 during that innings.

Pujara hit 21 fours during his 668 minutes marathon innings and brought up his double century in 521 balls, the slowest double century by an Indian in Test cricket.

Here is the list of Indian players who have faced most balls in a Test inning:

PlayerRunsMinsBalls4s6sInnsOppositionGroundStart Date
CA Pujara2025252102AustraliaRanchi16-Mar-17
R Dravid2707404953412PakistanRawalpindi13-Apr-04
NS Sidhu2016734911912West IndiesPort of Spain14-Mar-97
RJ Shastri2065724771722AustraliaSydney2-Jan-92
SM Gavaskar1727084721902EnglandBengaluru9-Dec-81
R Dravid2176294682802EnglandThe Oval5-Sep-02
VVS Laxman2816314524403AustraliaKolkata11-Mar-01
R Dravid2335944462312AustraliaAdelaide12-Dec-03
SM Gavaskar2214904432104EnglandThe Oval30-Aug-79
AD Gaekwad2016714361702PakistanJalandhar24-Sep-83

Pujara, in fact, also broke the record for the most balls faced by any player in a Test inning in India. He went past Pakistan legend Younis Khan, who faced 504 balls in his innings at Bangalore in 2005.

Most balls faced in a Test innings in India.

PlayerTeamRunsMinsBalls4s6sInnsOppositionGroundStart Date
CA PujaraINDIA2025252102AustraliaRanchi16-Mar-17
Younis KhanPAK2676905043211IndiaBengaluru24-Mar-05
HM AmlaSA253*6754732201IndiaNagpur6-Feb-10
SM GavaskarINDIA1727084721902EnglandBengaluru9-Dec-81
AJ HallSA1635884541701IndiaKanpur20-Nov-04

(Stats updated till 19th March 2017)

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