Cheteshwar Pujara silences critics with exquisite double hundred in Sussex debut; Watch

Team India Test specialist Chesteshwar Pujara put an end to his string of low scores in the longest format of the game by scoring a ton in the county championship for a Sussex cricket club. In the Derbyshire vs Sussex division, in two matches the Indian cricketer scored his maiden ton for his county club, before converting it into a double-ton after making a low score of 6(15) in the first innings. 

County Championship: Cheteshwar Pujara Sussex century

Derbyshire declared their first innings at 505/8 in 133 overs, with Shan Masood scoring a double century and Wayne Madsen scoring a century. Sussex's batting lineup was folded for 174 runs in 56.3 overs in their first innings, with Derbyshire deciding to enforce the follow-on. 

After the first innings disaster, Sussex bounced back to put up a strong show in the second innings as they ended the final day with 513 runs on the board, losing just three wickets. Cheteshwar Pujara Sussex ton (201*) came off just 387 balls and had 23 boundaries. He was well-supported by his skipper Tom Haines, who also scored a double century, finishing with 243 runs in 491 balls. Both Pujara and Haines shared a partnership of 351 runs which helped their side to get back into the game.

Cricket news: Cheteshwar Pujara's county stint and story so far

Sussex is not the first team that Cheteshwar Pujara is representing in county cricket. The Indian cricketer has previously represented teams Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire in the past. Speaking about the century the last time Pujara scored a ton was for Saurashtra back in January 2020 in the Ranji Trophy against Karnataka. His last Test century came in the year 2019 when India faced Australia in Sydney.

Speaking about the recent performances, Pujara has not reached the three-figure mark since January 2019. Under pressure going into the South Africa tour, he was dropped after scores of 0, 16, 3, 53, 43 and 9 in the series which India lost 1-2. The 34-year-old along with Ajinkya Rahane was left out for the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka before the ongoing Indian Premier League. A string of good performances during the county matches for Sussex will help Cheteshwar Pujara in presenting a strong case for recall in the Indian Test team for the one-off Test in England against the host. India was leading the five-match Test series 2-1 last year before it was called off due to the COVID issue.