'Home of cricket' Lord's has epic reaction to Cheteshwar Pujara's double ton for Sussex

Veteran Team India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has become the most talked about player in the cricketing circle lately following his third double century for Sussex in his debut County season. Playing his seventh match of the ongoing County Championship Division Two season for Sussex against Middlesex at the iconic Lord’s Stadium - also referred to as the home of cricket - Pujara hit 231 runs in 403 balls. While Pujara received widespread applause for his stunning double ton, the Lord’s Stadium also took to its official Instagram handle and reacted to Pujara's massive feat.

“A score of 231 for Cheteshwar Pujara at Lord's. An innings to remember,” the Stadium wrote in the caption. In the Instagram post, the 34-year-old can be seen getting welcomed to the dressing room to rousing applause from the crowd. On spotting the post, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also responded to it. “Well done Pujara,” Harbhajan wrote. 

Cheteshwar Pujara's double ton lifts Sussex to 523/10 

En route to his double century, Pujara scored runs at a strike rate of 57.32 and also registered 21 fours and three sixes in total. After coming in to bat at no. 4 at the Lord’s, Pujara stitched a 219-run stand for the 3rd wicket with Tom Alsop, who returned to the pavilion after scoring 135 runs in 277 balls. While Alsop’s dismissal reduced Sussex to 318/3 in 92.3 overs, Pujara continued to bat with wickets falling all around him. 

He was the team’s final wicket to fall in the first innings, as Pujara went back to the dugout after getting dismissed by Tom Helm. However, Pujara’s effort successfully lifted Sussex to the first innings score of 523 runs. At the time of writing this article, Middlesex finds themselves at 103/0 in 29 overs, with a trail of 420 runs. 

Cheteshwar Pujara sits third in the list of highest run scorers

It is pertinent to mention here that this was Pujara’s fifth knock of 100+ runs for Sussex in the ongoing season. He was roped in by the County team earlier this year after he went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auctions. However, Pujara proved his mettle as a batter with his performance for Sussex and earned a recall to the Indian Test squad for the 5th Test against India. 

Pujara currently sits third in the list of highest run scorers in the County Championship Division Two 2022, with a total of 997 runs to his name in seven games. He has scored runs at an average of 124.62 and a strike rate of 60.16. Derbyshire’s Shan Mahmood leads the run-scoring charts with his tally of 1074 runs in eight games.

(Image: @sussexccc/Instagram)