Indian veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara ended the drought of centuries with a double century in the second innings of his debut for Sussex in County Championship Division Two 2022 clash against Derbyshire. Pujara reached his century on Day 4's second session with a boundary off Alex Thomson in the 128th over of Sussex's innings. Later, Pujara reached his double ton with a couple of runs in the 177th over. After Pujara's double ton, both the teams shook hands as it ended in a draw.
In the first innings, Pujara had failed to make a mark as he got out after scoring just six runs. He got out to Indian-origin bowler Anuj Dal as Sussex got all out for 174 which led to them following on.
He walked in to bat when Sussex were 145/2. Despite a solid start, Sussex feared losing the match by an innings. However, the third-wicket partnership of 351 runs between Sussex skipper Tom Haines and Pujara helped them avoid an inning defeat and take an 182-run lead with seven wickets in hand.
The 34-year-old hit 23 boundaries in his 201-run knock off 387 deliveries. His partner Haines scored 243 runs from 391 deliveries before getting dismissed by Nick Potts.
Unimpressive first outing
While Pujara breached the three figures, Haines scored his maiden First-Class double hundred. Earlier the 23-year-old had top-scored for Sussex when they were dismissed for 174 in 56.3 overs.
Rizwan failed too
This is also the first time Pujara and Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan are playing for the same team. Rizwan was not impressive either in the first innings and scored 22 runs from 32 deliveries. The wicketkeeper-batter did not get to bat in the second innings.
Century drought at home and overseas
Earlier this year, Pujara scored two half-centuries for Saurashtra but failed to breach the three figures in five Ranji Trophy 2022 innings. He played domestic cricket after getting dropped from India Test side for home series against Sri Lanka which India won 2-0 under Rohit Sharma’s leadership.
Before getting dropped, Pujara was unimpressive on South Africa tour with just one half-century from six innings. Before that, he could not register a single fifty-plus score against New Zealand at home in four innings.
