Team India veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara on December 23 (Friday) breached the 7,000-run mark in Test cricket. The 'Wall 2.0', as Pujara is fondly known, became only the eighth Indian batter to achieve the milestone in international red-ball cricket. The right-handed batter reached the landmark on the penultimate ball of the 19th over bowled by Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan during India's innings in the ongoing second Test match in Dhaka.
Indians with 7,000 or more runs in Tests:
Sachin Tendulkar - 15,921
Rahul Dravid - 13,265
Sunil Gavaskar - 10,122
VVS Laxman - 8,781
Virender Sehwag - 8,503
Virat Kohli - 8,099*
Sourav Ganguly - 7,212
Cheteshwar Pujara - 7,008
Pujara was dismissed by left-arm spinner Taijul Islam for 24 runs off 55 balls.
The classical right-handed bater finally got the biggest load off his chest after cracking an incredible century, ending the 1,443 Test ton drought in the first Test against Bangladesh on Friday (December 16). With this Pujara (102 runs off 130 balls) brought up his 19th century in the longest format of the game at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. The century was also the fastest of his career as he took the Bangladesh bowling attack to cleaners to reach the milestone in just 130 balls.
The Saurashtra batter made his international Test debut for India in 2010 against Australia. In a glittering career spanning over a decade, Pujara has played 98 Test matches for India, scoring 7,008 runs in the process with help of 34 half-centuries and 19 tons. The 34-year-old has also played five ODIs for the national team, scoring 51 runs in the process.
