Wishes Galore For The ‘Immovable Force’ Cheteshwar Pujara On His 33rd Birthday

Resilience. Toughness. Grit. Character. ‘Over my dead body’ attitude. Patience (loads of it). Tough as nails. Ruthless. Aggressive in his own way.

I can write a million adjectives but they still wouldn’t justify the character of a man who is celebrating his 33rd birthday today, Cheteshwar Pujara.

Having made his Test debut against Australia 11 years ago, Cheteshwar Pujara has impinged himself a modern-day rock of Indian cricket. A guy who is prepared to guts it out in the middle for long periods of time; a guy who it feels like is meditating on the field with a bat in his hand; a guy who is prepared to take blows after blows for his team; a guy who is prepared to look ugly without a care in the world with a single objective of tiring out the bowlers and making life easy for his fellow batsmen.

1893 Test runs at 54.08 against Australia ➜ most by a current India batsman against an opposition
Most balls faced in an innings for ?? ➜ 525 v Australia, 2017
A crucial member of ??'s consecutive series wins in Australia

An immovable rock.

Happy birthday, Cheteshwar Pujara! pic.twitter.com/cKreQitLew

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) January 25, 2021

In an era dominated by rappers, Cheteshwar Pujara is a classical singer, one of the last survivors of the dying breed. He makes us realize the importance of batting in Test cricket in a certain way, and the recently concluded Test against Australia in Brisbane is a perfect testimony of that.

When 10 men battled for victory, Pujara ensured that India did not lose the game as he took blows after blows after blows to carve out a 211-ball 56 to what was a baptism with fire of the highest order.

Resilience. Toughness. Grit. Character. 'Over my dead body' attitude. Patience (loads of it). Tough as nails. Ruthless. Aggressive in his own way.

I can write a million adjectives but they still wouldn't justify his character.Happy Birthday Pujara. We are blessed to have you. pic.twitter.com/fmyOU6vYKx

— Yash Mittal ?? (@im_yash2307) January 24, 2021

No Indian batsman has ever faced more than 500 balls in a Test innings than Pujara. The right-hander is the only Indian No.3 after his predecessor Rahul Dravid to score more than 5000 runs in Test match cricket.

But more than the runs, Cheteshwar Pujara will always be remembered for his stellar contributions in helping India script two of its greatest-ever triumphs in Test cricket- the twin Test series wins in Australia.

While he was the leading run-scorer (521 runs in 7 innings with three hundreds) in the 2018/19 rubber, one that India won by a margin of 2-1, he was the glue that held the fledgling Indian batting together in two back-to-back fourth innings marathon in 2020/21.

Overall, the Rajkot rock has thus far played 81 Tests in which he has faced 13572 deliveries for his 6111 runs which also includes 18 hundreds and three double-tons.

Also Read: Cheteshwar Pujara Was Ready To Take Those Blows, He Played His Role Sensationally – Shardul Thakur

Here’s how former and current cricketers wished Cheteshwar Pujara on his birthday:

 

Many more happy returns of the day Rock of Gibraltar ??? @cheteshwar1 , can’t thank you enough for being my bunny though. pic.twitter.com/0LF6WlLJcl

— Ashwin ?? (@ashwinravi99) January 25, 2021

Happy birthday pujji @cheteshwar1. Wish you good health, happiness and more hours at the crease ?. Have a great year ahead.

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 25, 2021

Wishing you a very happy birthday @cheteshwar1 bhai. May you continue winning games for India and score alot of runs.?? pic.twitter.com/0gpdPpsZY2

— Umesh Yaadav (@y_umesh) January 25, 2021

Wishing you a very happy birthday @cheteshwar1!! ?

Wishing you good health & happiness on this day! Have a great day and a solid year ahead! ? pic.twitter.com/2nJBNnqx7B

— Ishant Sharma (@ImIshant) January 25, 2021

Happy birthday @cheteshwar1! They don't make them like you anymore. #HappyBirthdayPujara pic.twitter.com/DfUMVwWRNR

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) January 25, 2021

Happy birthday to the rock of RAJKOT!#HappyBirthdayPujara pic.twitter.com/umNuDthHu8

— DK (@DineshKarthik) January 25, 2021

Wish you a very Happy Birthday @cheteshwar1 .. Brother my best wishes to you on your special day, keep doing wonders. Lots of love! ?✌️#HappyBirthdayPujara

— Suresh Raina?? (@ImRaina) January 25, 2021

In 2001, during the national U-14 tournament Cheteshwar Pujara didn’t have a bat.Buying a new bat was a bit too much for Pujara’s father Arvind so he requested Cheteshwar’s school to lend him a bat. Pujara scored 306* v Baroda & earned that BDM bat as a gift #HappyBirthdayPujara

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) January 25, 2021

A man of great skill, ability & patience. Wishing a very happy birthday to you @cheteshwar1 you are a great testimony of how Test cricket is to be played. Best wishes #HappyBirthdayPujara pic.twitter.com/EsYChSmunY

— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) January 25, 2021

Happy birthday @cheteshwar1 may god bless you with all the happiness.. keep rocking champion

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 25, 2021

Happy Birthday to the Ultimate Warrior @cheteshwar1 Am sure you will enjoy this one ?

— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) January 25, 2021

The only 'common factor' in back to back series wins in Australia! #HappyBirthdayPujara You have proved to the new generation that not only quality of runs but spending quality time at crease is as important. Have a great year ahead ? #CheteshwarPujara @cheteshwar1 pic.twitter.com/dvQU08hdFc

— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) January 25, 2021