India's veteran cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara on Sunday smashed a double-century in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season for his domestic side Saurashtra in a game against Jharkhand. Pujara slammed 243 off 356 balls in a stroke-filled innings with 30 boundaries on Day 3 of the clash.
Pujara, who is not in the Indian team in the new World Test Championship cycle, has made a case ahead of Test squad announcement for the England series. Pujara last played for India in the WTC 2023 final against Australia and was not picked in the squad for the West Indies series and the South Africa series in the new cycle of 2023-25.
His stroke-filled double ton saw Saurashtra amass 578/4 before the skipper Jaydev Unadkat declared the innings. He got to his double ton in 317 balls with a single on the leg side off Shahbaz Nadeem. Pujara remained unbeaten on 157 at the end of Day 2 when his team finished at 406/4.
This was Pujara's 17th first-class ton, which brings him level with Mark Ramprakash and Herbert Sutcliffe. Pujara is only behind Don Bradman, Wally Hammond and Patsy Hendren on the list now.
