Cheteshwar Pujara: Second quickest Indian to 1000 runs

It had taken him 11 Tests and 18 innings to get to the mark.

Pujara thus became the joint-quickest among Indians to reach the landmark in terms of Tests — Sunil Gavaskar also took 11 Tests to get there — and second-quickest in terms of innings, behind Vinod Kambli, who got there in 14 innings.

Soon, Pujara reached his second double century, with a skip down the wicket and a deft flick for four off off-spinner Glenn Maxwell. Kambli too had scored two doubles early on — in just his third and fourth Tests. But the Mumbai left-hander’s spiralling descent was as spectacular as his steepling rise.

After just 11 innings, Kambli had four hundreds, three half-centuries and an average of 93.70. But his next 10 innings brought him just 147 runs, and he never played Test cricket again.

In style and temperament, Pujara cannot be more different from the exuberant Kambli. But on a day when his old mate’s name was cropping up repeatedly, it was fitting that Sachin Tendulkar was at the other end when Pujara breached the 200 mark. He would have appreciated being there, having waited 109.4 overs since the fall of India’s first wicket.

In making Tendulkar experience his longest-ever wait with pads on, Pujara and Murali Vijay had also set a new Indian record

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