20 Facts on the calm and consistent Cheteshwar Pujara

When Dravid retired everybody in the Indian cricketing circuit started wondering on who would fill the boots for the No. 3 Test Batsman. That was when Pujara came into limelight and showed the World that he is no less than the legend Rahul Dravid himself and has proved his caliber from time to time. Here are some facts on this great cricket find for India

1. Birth

Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara was born on January 25 1988, in Rajkot, Gujarat the region famous for producing cricketing greats like K S Ranjitsinhji, K S Duleepsinhji, Amar Singh, L Ramji, Vinoo Mankad, Nyalchand Shah, Salim Durrani, Karsan Ghavri, Dilip Doshi, Dhiraj Parsana and Ajay Jadeja.

2. His family

His father Arvind Pujara also was a first-class cricketer for Saurashtra having played 6 matches, he has scored 172 runs. Not to forget, his uncle Bipin Pujara also has played in Ranji for Saurashtra. He has scored 1631 runs in 36 matches.

3. His schooling

Pujara was an alumnus of Rajkot’s famous Virani School which has produced cricketers like Karsan Ghavri who has been his mentor. He was thrown into the spotlight when he scored a monumental unbeaten 306 then a national record in a West Zone Under-19 match against Baroda.

4. How Pujara came into playing professional cricket

His father once in an interview had said how Pujara had come into playing cricket. Once it happened that Arvind Pujara’s nephew was clicking pictures when the two and half-year-old Pujara was playing. The photos showed his perfect balance and ability to keep his eye on the ball. This is when his father decided to make him a cricketer.

5. His all-rounder ability

When he was a kid, Pujara was actually an emerging all-rounder. He was batting really well and also bowled a quick leg-spin. It was then a former all-rounder for India Karsan Ghavri who asked him to concentrate on his batting ability and had predicted that Pujara would play for India one day.

6. Vacations in Mumbai

When Pujara was 10 years old, their parents decided to move to Mumbai during the summer and winter vacations so that he could concentrate on his cricket and train well. His father said, “It would serve two purposes – Chintu would get to bat against quality fast bowlers and also have sufficient match practice.” In Mumbai they stayed in a makeshift house in Thane and suffered a lot of hardships in making Pujara a great cricketer we know of today.

7. Back-to-back centuries for U-14 team of Saurashtra

When he was selected for the U-14 team of Saurashtra he made his parents and selectors proud by scoring back-to-back centuries a 138 against Mumbai and a 306 not out versus Baroda in 2000-01. Pujara had said in an interview with Cricket Country, “In my debut game for Saurashtra at the Under-14 level, I scored a triple hundred and it just took off from there. From that point onwards, I have been consistent at Under-16 and the Under-19 levels. But, that triple hundred was a major development. As a young boy, it gave me tremendous belief that I could make a career in cricket and become successful.”

8. His mother’s death

His mother was a role model figure to Pujara and he had a strong bond with her. But fate had other plans when in October 2005; she was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. He was playing a match then and he was shocked at what had happened. But this made him more determined to play cricket and became really consistent later on. He went on to achieve his mother’s dream. His mother had said, “Once he is selected in the Indian team, he will be unstoppable.”

9. His spiritual guru

Cheteshwar Pujara believed in somebody after his mother passed away. It was his spiritual guru Hariprasadji Maharaj from Gondal near Rajkot. His blessings meant a lot for Pujara from young age.

10. U-19 Debut

Pujara made his U-19 Debut for India against England in 2005. He scored 211 runs in an Indian innings win. He was picked for the 2006 U-19 World Cup as the leading run-scorer of the Cup where he scored 349 runs from 6 innings, including three fifties and a century averaging 117. He was also made the Player of the tournament even though India lost to Pakistan in the finals, for his brilliant play in the championship.

11. Triple centuries in first-class career

By 2013, at the age of 25, Pujara had scored three triple centuries: 302* for Saurashtra against Orissa in 2008/09, 352 for Saurashtra against Karnataka in 2012/13, and 306* for India A against West Indies A in 2013/14. Pujara had become only the ninth batsman to have three triple centuries to his name. In 2008/09 he also had score two triple centuries for Saurashtra U-22s and this made him the only cricketer in the World to score three triple centuries in a month.

12. List A Cricket record

Pujara’s batting average in List A cricket is only next to Michael Bevan’s. Bevan is ahead of the list with 57.86, with Pujara in second place at 54.01.

13. Test Debut

Pujara after showing his consistency in domestic cricket, he was selected in 2010’s Australia’s tour to India. In the first test he came in as a substitute after VVS Laxman had sustained injuries and he picked up two catches at silly point. He got the cap in the second game after Gautam Gambhir was also down with an injury. He got out cheaply for 3 in the first innings to Mitchell Johnson but he played well for 74 in the second innings before he got dismissed to Nathan Hauritz.

14. Duncan Fletcher’s compliment

Pujara had made his debut in 2010 but he was given a chance later after a break of two years and he returned to the team in August 2012. When he came back he asked Duncan Fletcher for advice. Fletcher’s response was astonishing. Pujara had said about this incident to Indian Express, “All he did was to ask me to congratulate my father. He is aware that my father has been my coach since early days. While I was batting, he called others to take a note of the distance between my legs while taking guard and how it helped me to get a fine balance, especially when I am pulling a short ball or even while driving.”

15. Breakthrough

In the breakthrough match in August 2012, Pujara scored an incredible 159 against New Zealand in Hyderabad and this helped him grab a place in the competitive XI of the Indian Test cricket team.

16. 1000 runs

Pujara on course of his double hundred against Australia in March 2013, became the 2^nd fastest Indian to reach the 1000 run milestone in terms of innings. In terms of Tests he shares the record of being the fastest Indian to reach the 1000 run mark (12 Tests) along with Sunil Gavaskar.

17. Double-tons

By 2015, Pujara had scored 9 first-class centuries. He was just behind Don Bradman in scoring double centuries once upon a time. Bradman had scored one double-hundred every 9 innings. Pujara was just behind him in scoring one every 15 times. But this has gone up now.

18. ICC Awards

In 2013, Cheteshwar Pujara was awarded the Emerging Cricketer of the Year for his brilliant performances in India and abroad.

19. IPL Career

Pujara played for the Kolkata Knight Riders for the first three seasons. In 2013, he represented RCB for a few matches before his knee injury kept him out of the remaining IPL. After that RCB let him go and then he was picked up by KXIP and then for the next season he remained unsold.

20. County cricket experience

For the 2014-15 Season, Pujara represented Derbyshire for their last three Championship fixtures. His debut against Glamorgan was disastrous but he followed it up with a brilliant 90 against Surrey. He then scored an amazing unbeaten century in their win against Leicestershire.

After he was unsold in the 2015 auction he signed up for Yorkshire.