cricket

Updated: Dec 06, 2018 13:00 IST

It was a special performance from Cheteshwar Puiara as he scored a gritty century for India on Day 1 of their first Test match against Australia in Adelaide on Thursday. In the process, Pujara also completed 5000 runs in Test cricket with the help of 16 centuries and 19 fifties.

Pujara took 108 innings to reach the milestone - fifth-fastest by an Indian cricketer along with Rahul Dravid - and it was extra special for him as his innings got the visitors out of a tough spot after losing early wickets.

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When it comes to Indian cricketers, the fastest one to reach 5000 runs in Test cricket was Sunil Gavaskar (95 innings) followed by Virender Sehwag (99), Sachin Tendulkar (103) and Virat Kohli (105).

Thanks to his innings, Pujara also joined an elite list of Indian cricketers who have scored a century on the opening day of a tour outside Asia. The list included names like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay.

Indian players hitting 100 on the opening day of a tour outside Asia:

V Manjrekar 133 Leeds 1952

S Tendulkar 155 Bloemfontein 2001

V Sehwag 105 B’tein 2001

V Kohli 119 Joburg 2013

M Vijay 122 Trent Bridge 2014

V Kohli 143 North Sound 2016

C PUJARA 100 Adelaide 2018 *

With India struggling at 41/4, Pujara stitched together crucial partnerships with Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant to keep the scorecard ticking. The 41-run stand between Pujara and Pant was the highest 6th wicket partnerships by India in Australia after losing 5 wickets for below 100.

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Although Rohit and Pant both ending up wasting their starts, Pujara continued to play sensibly and was able to bring up his century in 232 deliveries with the help of six boundaries and one six.