Cheteshwar Pujara turned 33 on Monday with wishes pouring in for India's masterful batsman on social media. India's cricket captain Virat Kohli was among the first to wish the Test star on his special day. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video link to one of Pujara's finest hundreds -- a knock of 143 against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. The BCCI also serenaded Cheteshwar Pujara with a small verse to hail his resilience. Many cricketers and fans took to Twitter as well to tip their hat to India's batting star, who had played a crucial role in the team's historic Test series triumph in Australia recently.
"Happy birthday pujji @cheteshwar1. Wish you good health, happiness and more hours at the crease. Have a great year ahead," tweeted Virat Kohli.
"He takes body blows. Grinds it out in the middle. Braves it all & stands tall," tweeted the BCCI along with Pujara's Test batting stats.
Former India pacer RP Singh saluted Pujara in his birthday wish, pointing to the fact that the batting star was the "only 'common factor' in back to back series wins in Australia".
Other cricketers and fans too came in large numbers to extend their birthday greetings for Pujara.
While Pujara failed to hit a century in Australia, he played some crucial knocks when India needed it most to grind down the Australian bowlers. He played the perfect foil to more attacking batsmen like Rishabh Pant as India breached Australia's fortress Gabba to secure a 2-1 series win.
No visiting team in the last 32 years had ever won at the Gabba, before India came knocking. Ravaged by injuries, the Indian team handed multiple debuts, and few gave the inexperienced outfit to do anything of note.
Led brilliantly by Ajinkya Rahane, and supported by the ever-present Pujara, India's young guns stood tall pulled of one of the biggest wins in Test history to leave the hosts shell-shocked.