Indian Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara surpassed the age-old record of Vijay Merchant for most 200-plus scores in first-class cricket by an Indian. In Saurashtra’s fourth-round tie against Jharkhand at Rajkot, the 29-year-old crafted a patient 204 from 355 balls as his side walked past the 500-run mark.
Merchant, one of India’s greatest first-class batsmen, had amassed 11 scores of more than 200. Some of the other former greats, Vijay Hazare, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar, are also not far behind, having brought up 10 double-hundreds.
However, on Thursday, Pujara went past Vijay Merchant’s record as he scored his 12th double century in first-class cricket. Out of the these 12, 6 were scored in Ranji trophy, 3 for India, 2 for India A and 1 in Duleep trophy.
Most 200s in FC career for Indian players:
12 C PUJARA
11 V Merchant
10 V Hazare/ S Gavaskar/ R Dravid#RanjiTrophy2017— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) November 2, 2017
In what is an evidence to Pujara’s run-scoring abilities, he also has three triple-centuries under his name, a record he shares with India and Saurashtra teammate Ravindra Jadeja, who is also a part of the playing XI.
Saurashtra demolished the Jharkhand attack, which comprises of pacer Varun Aaron and the consistent Shahbaz Nadeem. The dependency was on Pujara to take his side to safety after the visitors made early encroachments.
