Cheteshwar Pujara On A Roll, Three Tons in Three Tests

Cheteshwar Pujara is going through the form of his life. On Thursday, he hit his third straight Test ton in as many matches as England again felt the heat of this Gujarat batsman's prowess on the first day of the second Test in Vizag on Thursday.

Pujara took 184 balls to reach his 10th Test century. He had scored 101* in the last match of New Zealand series in Indore, while he hit 124 in the first match of the England series in Rajkot.

Emulates Tendulkar, Dravid

En route to the ton, Pujara scored 3000 runs in Tests in just 67 innings. He joined Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid as the fifth fastest Indian to achieve the feat. Sehwag scored 3000 runs in 55 innings.

Pujara finally got out on 119 when he edged to Jonny Bairstow off James Anderson with India at 248/3. He was involved in a 226-run stand for the third wicket with captain Virat Kohli, who scored his 14th ton on Day 1.

The highlight of Pujara's ton was the way he hit Adil Rashid over deep mid-wicket for a huge six to reach the triple-figure mark.

For someone who was specifically told to improve strike-rate it is a proof of changing one's game, according to team's need, the change is great.

This comes after, captain Virat Kohli had specifically said earlier during the New Zealand series that the team needed runs from him at a faster pace.

"He (Pujara) is someone who absorbs the pressure really well, but after a certain stage in the innings there comes a time when the team needs runs. That's where we felt that he has the ability to capitalise. It was just about conveying that to him. He has worked hard on his game," Kohli said.

Pujara, no doubt, has taken his captain's advice seriously.