Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019: Cheteshwar Pujara Knocks An Unbeaten 61-Ball 100* For Saurashtra

Well, Cheteshwar Pujara makes headlines in a T20 tournament and yes, you read it right. The Test specialist, who is known for his ever-lasting stay at the crease in Red-ball format showed his charisma in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2019. He smashed a brilliant 61-ball 100* for Saurashtra against Railways in the Round 1 of the tournament.

Cheteshwar Pujara numbered 14 fours and 1 six:

Initially, it was Railways, who won the toss and chose to bowl first. The young Harvik Desai walked alongside Cheteshwar Pujara to open the innings for Saurashtra while Anureet Singh started the things for Railways.

The opening duo added a brilliant 85-run partnership for the first wicket before  Desai walking back with 34 runs to his name. However, troubles further stretched for Railways, as Robin Uthappa joined Pujara to push things at a quick pace.

During the course, Pujara was brilliant in rotating the strike and also found the fence more often than not. He remained unbeaten throughout the innings to walk back with a brilliant 100*-run knock to his name. Perhaps, it was a statement from him that he can bat in the shorter version of the game.

Pujara is the only century scorer for Saurashtra in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy:

On the other hand, Robin Uthappa dismissed for a well-made 46 runs when Amit Mishra got better of him. For Railways, Anureet Singh, Amit Mishra and Ashish Yadav picked one wicket each to restrict Saurashtra for 188 runs.

Coming back to Cheteshwar Pujara’s century, his first fifty came in 29 balls while second fifty came in 32 balls. It is his maiden century in his T20 career. Besides that, Cheteshwar Pujara becomes the first player to score a Twenty20 century for Saurashtra.

However, it has been an incredible last few months for Cheteshwar Pujara. He recently bagged the man of the series award in India’s first-ever series victory against Australia in Australia. Before that, he displayed his class in County Cricket and always a glorious performer in Ranji Circuit.