Cheteshwar Pujara has made a strong case for his India comebeack by slamming a century and two double tons in the County Championship Division Two. The Test veteran is currently the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer with 531 runs in five innings at 132.75. His scores with Sussex read: 6, 201*, 109, 12, and 203. 

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Pujara was dropped from the national side following the series loss in South Africa this year. He and Ajinkya Rahane participated in the domestic Ranji Trophy before the 34-year-old flew to Sussex for a county stint. 

He got back amongst runs with an unbeaten 201 against Derbyshire, helping his side in a draw. In a 34-run loss to Worcestershire, Pujara scored 109 in the first innings. His latest exploit in county came against Durham. The India batter made 203 and faced 334 balls, in which he hit 24 fours. Riding on his show and Pakistani Mohammed Rizwan’s 79 off 145 balls, Sussex extended their dominance on the third day of the match, their innings ending at 538 for a massive lead of 315 runs.

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Durham scored 364/3 in the second innings for a draw. 

Cheteshwar Pujara now has 15 double-centuries in First-class cricket – most by an Asian cricketer. Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara follows with 13. 

Pujara, as per ESPNcricinfor, has he most number of FC double-centuries since the start of the 21st century. His unbeaten 201 is the highest individual score on FC debut for Sussex. 

The batter’s father and coach Arvind Pujara believes that regular match practice has helped him. 

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“I feel the lack of game time was a big reason why he could not be consistent over the past three seasons,” his father Arvind, who remains his only personal coach till date, told PTI.

“When you play the likes of Australia and England, you have to be on the top of your game as you don’t get loose balls that you may get at the domestic level. There were not enough games for him to play at the domestic level to be ready for bigger battles. That I feel impacted his consistency at the highest level.” “Now that he is getting to play regularly, you can see the consistency is back in his game,” he added. 

With big runs flowing his way, Pujara has made a strong case for his selection in India’s squad for the away-Test vs England.