India vs Australia: Cheteshwar Pujara set to join elite list of Indians cricketers with 100 Tests

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is set to join an elite list of cricketers when he takes the field in the second Test against Australia, starting Feb. 17 in Delhi.

Pujara will become only the 13th cricketer from India to play 100 Tests. He will only be the second cricketer in the current team to play 100 Tests after Virat Kohli, who played his 100th against Sri Lanka in Mohali in March 2022.

Interetsingly, the Rajkot-born batsman made his Test debut against Australia back in 2010 in Bengaluru and soon gave glimpses of what is stored for Indian cricket in the coming decade. In the second innings of his debut Test, Pujara was promoted to No.3 ahead of Rahul Dravid, and scored a fluent 72 as India chased down 207 to win the series 2-0.

Since his glittering debut, Pujara has played 20 more Tests against Australia and now he boasts of an outstanding record against the said rivals in the longest format of the game.

In 99 Tests, Pujara has amassed 7,021 runs at an average of 44.15, including 34 half-centuries and 19 hundreds. Out of this, Pujara's 1,900 runs have come against Australia and he averages over 50 against India's arch-rivals, including five centuries and 10 fifties.

On India's tour of Australia in 2018-19, Pujara scored 521 runs in four Tests and finished with the most runs as India went on to win their first-ever Test series Down Under. Two years later, while Pujara did not score as many runs but copped several body blows in some of the gutsiest innings in Test cricket in the modern era as Team India won their second consecutive Test series in Australia.

The 35-year-old cricketer is not your typical new-age batsman and has been dropped several times because of low strike-rate issues. However, Pujara has made an evident change to his approach and game. In Bangladesh late last year, Pujara hit his fastest Test hundred; in Nagpur recently, he got out cheaply but there were signs of a batter who wanted to dominate early.

One could expect Pujara to walk into the upcoming second Test of the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy with an aim to play a special innings to mark a memorable moment in his career – a century of Test appearances.

The opening Test in Nagpur went in India's favour as the hosts thoroughly dominated in all departments and clinched a massive win by an innings and 132 runs. Meanwhile, the third Test, which was originally scheduled to be played in Dharamsala, has been officially moved to the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

"Owing to harsh winter conditions in the region, the outfield lacks sufficient grass density and will need some time to develop fully," the BCCI said in a release.