Cheteshwar Pujara achieved a major landmark on Sunday, January 21 as he became only the 4th Indian cricketer to complete 20,000 runs in first-class matches – Tests and domestic red-ball games. Pujara achieved the feat while playing for Saurashtra in the third round of Ranji Trophy 2024 against Vidarbha at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
Cheteshwar Pujara needed to get 96 runs in the Ranji Trophy game against Vidarbha and he completed the milestone with 43 in the first innings and a crucial 66 in the second innings of the match. Pujara has been in fine form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy campaign. He began his season with an unbeaten 243 against Jharkhand in Rajkot in the season opener and carried on to make 49 and 43 against Haryana in Saurashtra in the second match.
Pujara has 7195 runs in 103 Test matches for India at an average of 44.36 and has been a heavy run-getter in domestic cricket with 61 hundreds and 77 fifties overall in first-class cricket.
Pujara’s 66 was crucial towards helping Saurashtra set a formidable target for Vidarbha on a challenging pitch in Nagpur.
Vishvaranjsinh Jadeja top-scored with 79 while opener Kevin Jivrajani hit 57 as Saurashtra made 244 to set a 373-run target in the final innings for Vidarbha. Saurashtra made 206 in the first innings after which they bundled Vidarbha out for 78 in their first innings.
