'Pujara's milestone turned grey' - Cheteshwar Pujara gets out on seven ball duck in his 100th Test match against Australia

Cheteshwar Pujara (Source: Twitter)

Cheteshwar Pujara had a day to remember at Delhi as he was given a splendid guard of honour as a congratulatory gesture from the Indian Team for completing 100 Tests. Pujara had played 99 Tests coming into the Delhi Test and had scored 7021 runs at an average of 43.88 and a strike rate of 44.42. He had scored 19 hundreds and 34 fifties.

He was good in the slips and as a close-in fielder for the Indian Team on Day 1 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and also ran very swiftly across the outfield to save precious runs for the Indian Team. But he did not set his 100th Test alight with the bat as he departed for a seven-ball duck. He was dismissed by Nathan Lyon.

India had won the first Test at Nagpur by an innings and 132 runs

Lyon bowled a wonderful spell as he picked up the wickets of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Pujara. Lyon bowled a tossed-up delivery and Pujara was late to get on his defence, which resulted in the ball hitting the pad first and he was LBW. Pujara played Lyon with ease in the 2018 tour and the 2021 tour in Australia but he was found wanting here in Delhi.

The Man from Saurashtra could not set the stage on fire given the momentous occasion. Pujara is believed to be a batter of the mould of Rahul Dravid and does a lot of hard grafting to earn his runs. He has a solid defence and that has been his forte. He has also taken a lot of blows to his body for India and batted in tough situations and come out on top.

India won the first Test at Nagpur as the Indian spinners ran riot over the Australian batters. Ravindra Jadeja picked up seven wickets in the game. Ravichandran Ashwin picked up eight wickets in the game. Vital runs were scored by Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami. India won the game in three days.

Let us take a look at the reactions on Twitter-

Lumber One Team!
RIP Cheteshwar Pujara played his 100th test match appearance now going for a Golden Duck. 🥳 WTHECK! #AUSvsIND

— Not Okay! (@wyzcz) February 18, 2023

This is exactly what you get for dragging finished players, Cheteshwar Pujara was finished long ago.

— Psy (@PsyfeR888) February 18, 2023

All sympathy aside cheteshwar pujara is done and dusted. one good inning and then 20 innings with a negative impact is not justified at all

— Chango Tarlie 🦉 (@owl_corner) February 18, 2023

Nothing is more embarrassing then getting out on Duck 🦆 in his #100test match #CheteshwarPujara #IndvsAus2ndtest @cheteshwar1

— Nitin Kadam (@NitinKa52703950) February 18, 2023

What even happened to Cheteshwar Pujara? All that pointless discussion about intent and strike rate broke him, sigh.

— Roy (@TheRoyNextDoor) February 18, 2023

Sadly, that was some ordinary batting from the usually reliable @cheteshwar1 in his 100th test.

To get out leg before twice to #NathanLyon in 7 deliveries was disappointing!

India under pressure.#INDvAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy2023 #CheteshwarPujara

— Vignesh (@cviignesh) February 18, 2023

Bagging a duck in their 100th Test
Dilip Vengsarkar
Allan Border
Courtney Walsh
Mark Taylor
Stephen Fleming
Brendon McCullum
Alastair Cook
Cheteshwar Pujara

— cric. mani7 (@p_manikumaran) February 18, 2023

Cheteshwar Pujara has played 100 Test matches, served India well but it's time to say good bye to him.

He is not the same Pujara anymore, he has stopped scoring when India needs him.#INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #BGT2023

— Vipul Ghatol 🇮🇳 (@Vipul_Espeaks) February 18, 2023

India is falling for spinners. Great test batsman like Pujara getting out to a spinner lbw even after knowing he got saved earlier as Aussies didn’t take a review, it is pure fearful cricket. WHAT A SHAME! #INDvAUS #CheteshwarPujara

— Sharan (@SharanRoars) February 18, 2023

Cricket's fickleness on full display,
As Pujara's milestone turned grey.
A duck on his 100th Test, oh what dismay!#IPL2023 #Csk #MSDhoni #INDvsAUS #hotstar #RohitSharma #ViratKohli #WPL #KLRahul #CheteshwarPujara pic.twitter.com/B7nO19Gkpk

— #MoochPotato (@jayadevarao) February 18, 2023