IND vs ENG: Cheteshwar Pujara Has Now Played 28 Innings Without A Test Century

India's No.3 batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has now played 28 Test innings without a century. His last century had come 17 Test matches ago, when he scored 193 against Australia in Sydney in January 20

Cricket Image for IND vs ENG: Cheteshwar Pujara Has Now Played 28 Innings Without A Test Century (Cheteshwar Pujara (Image Source: Google))

India's No.3 batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has now played 28 Test innings without scoring a century. His last century had come 17 Test matches ago, when he scored 193 against Australia in Sydney in January 2019. Since then he has scored nine half-centuries but has not been able to convert any of those into three-figure knocks.

The closest Pujara, 33, came close to scoring a century since his 193 was when he scored 81 in the second innings of the Visakhapatnam Test against South Africa in October 2019. And the last Test century Pujara scored in India was the 143 against Sri Lanka in November 2017 in Nagpur. Of his 18 centuries, Pujara has scored 10 centuries in India and eight abroad.

Pujara seems to be particularly struggling against left-arm spinners. England's Jack Leach, for example, dismissed him for the fourth time out of six in the ongoing home four-match Test series, continuing right-handed batsman's troubles against the left-arms.

While his performance in Australia over the last two series has taken him to greater heights, the fact remains that he hasn't scored a hundred in India over the last three years. His highest has been 86 and he has averaged just under 35 over the last three-year period. He has averaged under 34 at the No.3 spot during the last three years in India.

India skipper Virat Kohli was asked by IANS on the eve of the fourth and final Test about the problems faced by Pujara.

Kohli responded almost irritably: "Up until three-four years ago, people were talking about that he is a flat track bully; doesn't score abroad. Now that he has started to score abroad, people are saying he doesn't score in India. He knows what he has to do; the batting coach knows what he has to do."

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