Twitter Reactions: Pujara scores 18th double century in first-class cricket, calls for national team comeback grow louder

When Cheteshwar Pujara gets a hundred it is very likely that he would go on to score a big one. That's what he has done in the ongoing Ranji Trophy round 2 match between Saurashtra and Chhattisgarh at Rajkot on Monday, October 21. The right-hander scored a double hundred just after Tea on the final day of the contest with Saurashtra in desperate need of quick runs to gain a first innings lead.

Chhattisgarh scored a massive 578/7d while batting first propelled by an unbeaten double century from skipper Amandeep Khare (203*) and a century from Sanjeet Desai (146). In reply, the home team suffered an early setback when wicketkeeper-batter Harvik Desai (5) was dismissed in the sixth over.

In came Pujara and started to play the ball on merit while not missing out on scoring opportunities as and when they presented themselves. He received good support from the other end with Sheldon Jackson, who is playing his 100th first-class match, contributing 62 runs to the team tally and forming a 109-run partnership with Pujara. The veteran subsequently formed another 100+ partnership with Arpit Vasavada (73), driving Saurashtra forward.

Also Read: Comeback hungry Cheteshwar Pujara notches terrific Ranji century, completes 21,000 runs in First-Class cricket

Earlier on Day 4, Pujara reached his hundred (66th in first-class cricket) and carried on piling up the runs. He continued to receive support from Prerak Mankad and now Vishvarajsinh Jadeja in Saurashtra's pursuit of the first-innings lead. Pujara, after Lunch, attempted to score runs at a quicker rate and reached his 18th double hundred at a faster pace than his hundred. The veteran isn't done yet and is currently at the crease on 221* (4s - 23, 6s - 1).

Fourth-most double centuries in first-class cricket

Pujara now stands at the fourth position on the list of players to have scored the most number of double hundreds in first-class cricket, surpassing Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash's tally of 17. It is also worth noting that Pujara is already at the top of this list when it comes to Indian batters. The next Indian on the list is Vijay Merchant with 11 double centuries.

Pujara's innings has led to calls for his inclusion in the Test team again in view of the upcoming tour of Australia. Time will tell if the selectors reconsider the veteran.

Here's how X reacted to Pujara's double -