Cheteshwar Pujara brought the curtains down on his illustrious career on August 24, 2025, as he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In the longer format, Pujara established himself as the perfect heir to the legendary Rahul Dravid at the No. 3 position. His specialised skills meant he couldn’t play more than five ODIs.
The numbers at No. 3
In 103 Tests, he made 7,195 runs, with an average of 43.60, including 35 fifties and 19 centuries. In the No. 3 position, Pujara scored 6,529 runs in 95 matches, second in the list of most runs scored in that position for India in Tests. Dravid holds the top spot with 10,501 runs in 135 matches.
Longevity in Tests
Pujara achieved some unique records that will be hard to break. In terms of the most number of Test matches played for India, Pujara (103) stands in joint 12th position along with Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag. Only 14 players have played more than 100 Test matches for India.
Runs and Centuries
Pujara’s total of 7,195 runs places him in the eighth spot in the list of highest run-scorers in Tests for India. When it comes to centuries, with 19, he stands seventh.
What made Pujara completely different from others, especially in modern-day cricket, where players often fail to show patience due to the influence of T20s, was his grit, hunger, passion, and determination to score.
525: The Most balls faced in a Test innings
Pujara scored 202 runs against Australia in Ranchi in 2017. He faced 525 balls in that mammoth knock and became the only Indian to play 500 or more deliveries in a Test innings. The previous best was 495 balls by Rahul Dravid against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2004, where he scored 270 runs. In Pujara’s Test career, he faced 16,127 deliveries — the fifth-most by an Indian.
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Batting for hours
Not only deliveries, but by playing that knock, Pujara created another record. He batted for 672 minutes, which stands in fourth spot in the list of most minutes batted in a Test innings by an Indian. Overall, Pujara stands sixth among Indians, batting for more than 21,850 minutes in his career.
Fielding contribution
Pujara is also one of the 11 Indians who have scored 5,000 or more runs along with 50 or more fielding dismissals in Tests.
Batted on all five days of a Test
Only three Indians have batted on each day of a five-day Test, and Pujara is one of them. This was in 2017 when India hosted Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Pujara scored 52 and 22. The other two to have done that are ML Jaisimha in 1960 against Australia and Ravi Shastri in 1984 against England. Coincidentally, all three instances took place at the iconic Eden Gardens.
Carrying the bat
Pujara is one of four Indian Test openers who carried their bat through a completed innings. In 2015 in Colombo, Pujara remained not out on 145 off 312 balls in the first innings. The other three are Rahul Dravid (unbeaten 146 off 300 balls against England at The Oval in 2011), Virender Sehwag (unbeaten 201 off 329 balls against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2008), and the great Sunil Gavaskar (unbeaten 127 off 286 balls against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1983).
Success in SENA countries
Another astonishing record that Pujara has to his name is being part of the Indian team in the most number of Test wins in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries. He has won 11 Tests in SENA nations and, in those games, scored 773 runs, including five fifties and two centuries.
Border-Gavaskar 2018/19 heroics
He faced 1,258 deliveries against Australia in Australia during the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It remains the most number of balls faced by a visiting batter in a single Test series in Australia. The previous best was Rahul Dravid, who faced 1,203 balls during the 2003-04 series.
Also Read: Cheteshwar Pujara — a great cricketer and a great human being