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In Pics: India`s batting `rock` Cheteshwar Pujara turns 33
Cheteshwar Pujara turned 33 on Monday (January 25), a day before Republic Day. Pujara faced over 900 balls for the second series in a row in Australia to help blunt the hosts pace attack and set up India's 2-1 series in Border-Gavaskar series down under.
Marathon man
Cheteshwar Pujara has the longest Test innings to his name in terms of balls faced back in 2017. He faced 525 balls to score 202 against Australia in Ranchi, the previous best was by Rahul Dravid who scored 270 off 495 balls. (Source: Twitter)
Domestic giant
Cheteshwar Pujara has piled up over 16000 runs in first-class cricket. The Saurashtra batsman has 50 centuries to his name in first-class cricket in 208 games with a top-score of 352. (Source: Twitter)
Slow but sure
Cheteshwar Pujara's career strike-rate of 45 is only a shade under Ajinkya Rahane. Pujara has the highest average of 110 against spin bowling since 2017. (Source: Twitter)
Setting up Test wins
Cheteshwar Pujara averages over 56 in Test matches that India has won. In these 47 Test wins, Pujara has managed to score 12 hundreds and piled up 3921 runs. (Source: Twitter)
Piling it on
Cheteshwar Pujara became only the 11th Indian to score 6000 runs in Test cricket. His average of 59.84 in Test matches at home is second only to India captain Virat Kohli. (Source: Twitter)
Upper hand in Australia
Cheteshwar Pujara managed 993 runs in 11 Tests in Australia and to set up India's back-to-back series wins down under. India No. 3 took plenty of blows on his body but didn't back down in the third and fourth Test in Sydney and Gabba in Brisbane. (Source: Twitter)