'Thanks for making India proud' - Twitter elated as Cheteshwar Pujara hits double ton on Sussex debut

In the County Championship Division Two match between Sussex and Derbyshire, Cheteshwar Pujara struck a century, the first in first-class cricket in more than two years. In the second innings of the match, the Indian cricketer scored his maiden ton for Sussex, converted it into a double-ton, and marked his return after a low score of 6(15) in the first innings.

After Derbyshire declared their first innings at 505/8 in 133 overs, courtesy of Shan Masood’s double century and Wayne Madsen’s ton, Sussex players were sent packing for 174 runs in 56.3 overs, with Derbyshire enforcing the follow-on. But they bounced back in the second innings as they ended the final day with 513 runs on the board, at the loss of just three wickets. Pujara’s unbeaten knock of 201*(387) runs in the second innings was a crucial one for his side. He was well-supported by his skipper Tom Haines, who also scored a double century, finishing with 243 runs in 491 balls.

Pujara and Haines shared a partnership of 351 runs which helped their side to get back into the game. After abysmal performances in the past two years, Pujara was dropped from the Indian side after the Test series against South Africa. He was left out of the squad for the Sri Lankan series and saw a downfall in his annual contract.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Cheteshwar Pujara’s performance

Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Indian side before he joined the County cricket

The last time Pujara scored a century 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. In the recent game, Sussex ended the day scoring 513/3 (f/o) as the match ended in a draw.

It was Pujara’s debut game for Sussex. He has previously represented teams Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Pujara was one of India’s permanent players until recently. The team kept backing him, alongside Ajinkya Rahane, even after they displayed poor form in the Test format.

In 95 matches, Pujara has 6713 runs to his name, with his highest score being 206*. Pujara holds 18 centuries, three double centuries, and 32 fifties to his name in the longest format of the game.