Cheteshwar Pujara's 100th Test: How Indian Players Fared In Their Milestone Match

Cheteshwar Pujara ended his eventful 100th Test match by hitting the winning runs against Australia in Delhi on Sunday. Pujara, who remained unbeaten on 31 in the second innings, became only the second player after Ricky Ponting to hit the winning runs in their 100th Test match. But the Saurashtra batter also scored a duck in the first innings, becoming the seventh international player and second Indian after Dilip Vengsarkar to register this unwanted score in the 100th Test. 

Batting legends Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Stephen Fleming, Alastair Cook, and Brendon McCullum too recorded ducks in their 100th Test. 

How Does Pujara Stack Up Against Other Indian 'Centurions'?

Before the start of Day 1, Sunil Gavaskar felicitated Pujara and hoped that he would become the first Indian to hit a century in the 100th Test. Alas, Pujara fell short by 100 runs in the first innings!

Gavaskar, in fact, was the first Indian to reach the milestone in October 1984 against Pakistan at Lahore. He scored 48 and 37 in the match which ended in a boring draw. 

Vengsarkar scored a duck - the first player to register this dubious record - and 25 runs in his 100th Test, played against New Zealand in Mumbai.

All-rounder Kapil Dev played his 100th Test in November 1989 against Pakistan. He took seven wickets, scored a half century (55) and became the only Indian to win the Player of The Match award in his 100th Test.  

Tendulkar, who made his debut in Dev's 100th Test, was the fourth Indian to reach the milestone. Playing at The Oval against England in September 2002, Tendulkar scored 54 and added some valuable runs with Rahul Dravid who scored 217.

Anil Kumble followed next, reaching the landmark against Sri Lanka in December 2005. He took a five wicket haul in the second innings to help India win the match by 259 runs.

Three months later, Dravid played his 100th Test against England in Mumbai. Dravid scored 52 and 9 as India lost the Test by 212 runs.

Sourav Ganguly, who debuted alongside Dravid in 1996, hit 43 and 40 runs in his 100th Test, which he played against Australia at Melbourne in December 2007. India lost that Test by 337 runs -- among the worst defeats.

Less than 11 months later, VVS Laxman became the eighth player to achieve the feat, playing his 100th Test against Australia in Nagpur. He scored 64 and 4 runs as India won the match by 172 runs. Incidently, this was Ganguly's last Test too.

Four years later, Virender Sehwag played his 100th Test versus England in Mumbai. The swashbuckling opener scored 30 and 9 in two innings as England won the match by 10 wickets.

Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma - both specialist bowlers - were the next to reach the milestone -- in 2013 and 2021 respectively. However, both their performances went unnoticed.

Virat Kohli, his teammate, played his 100th Test last year against Sri Lanka in Mohali. He scored 45 runs in the first innings as India beat the visitors by an innings and 222 runs.

Topics mentioned in this article

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