Cheteshwar Pujara may have taken himself out of India’s Test team, but the veteran batter hasn’t forgotten to do what he does best: score runs. The 35-year-old batter joined the India cricket team in 2010 on the back of his run spree in first-class cricket.
Today, the batter has become just the fourth Indian batter to score 20,000 first-class runs. Needing just 96 runs to pass the 20000-run mark, Pujara scored 43 in the first inning against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy 2024. Just 53 runs away from the milestone, Pujara scored 66 runs in the second inning to join greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar.
Despite the Test spot eluding him, Cheteshwar Pujara hasn’t given up home to don the Indian jersey once again. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024 season, the batter from Saurashtra has already scored 444 runs in three matches. His 109 runs in the match have seen him go to the top of the leading run-scorers list for the tournament.
Out of the 20013 first-class runs he has scored, 7195 have come for India on the international stage. Almost one-third of his first-class centuries have come for India as well (19 of 61).
Indian players with most runs in First-class cricket
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunil Gavaskar | 348 | 25,834 | 51.46 | 81 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 310 | 25,396 | 57.84 | 81 |
| Rahul Dravid | 298 | 23,794 | 55.33 | 68 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 260 | 20,013 | 51.96 | 61 |
